Warlock of Sin: Natuski Subaru (AU)
by ReviewR524
Summary: Despairing in the shadows, where time is irrelevant, Subaru meets the witch face to face, stuck there forever with no way to return back. They both talked and came to arms as they broke through the realm of shadows together. Subaru gains the curse that she had been holding on for four-hundred years, and in turn, she swears to aid him in his endeavors through this world full of sin.
1. Prologue

**Warlock of Sin: Prologue**

Darkness, the darkness that ate him, he was apart of it now, so was everyone else, part of the darkness, devoid of light, nothing can bring them out now... nothing.

...

He stared into darkness, each direction, was pure darkness, what was there to do, the Witch was furious about him revealing his Return by Death, though she couldn't bring the regular punishment to him, she still brought punishment, her fury enabled her to manifest herself in the plane of existence, and she swallowed everything, the half-elf girl beside Subaru, the blur haired maid that rushed in to check on him, the shield of sanctuary, the court magician, the great spirit that promised to stay by his side, and now, he was swallowed as well.

"I'm... not dead..."

He said it to himself, though he was too terrified open his mouth so no sound came out.

"No... NO NO NO!"

His internal screams echoed through his head, he has failed to kill himself, he thought that if the Witch killed him, he would just Return by Death, but he didn't die, now he was stuck in this world of shadows, forever, with no one else, alone.

.

"I'm sorry..."

.

A voice boomed through the darkness, it was a very familiar voice, a voice he's heard about four or five times by now, it was a loving and caring voice, though this time, it sounded sad, guilty even. He stood up, he couldn't feel the ground, it was made of shadows so naturally there was no feeling, he walked towards the voice.

The darkness started to clear up, a void of purple and black can now be seen, several, shadows have been intertwined to form several bridges, they all joined in the center, rising up, making it a little bit more noticeable than the other bridges.

Subaru walked up, it was the voice he heard when he nearly died, the voice he heard when he tried to tell them, the voice that told him he loved him, that voice was...

"NO! SUBARU STAY BACK!"

He felt a strong urge to jump and so he did, all of a sudden, the ground that he was on exploded, several black slime-like creatures appeared, he couldn't see it, or rather, they were soo dark that they were completely camouflaged with the ground.

They melted down to the ground, though you couldn't tell if they just melted or flattened themselves up. Subaru picked himself up, he could see the owner of the voice, the moment he saw her he jumped and rushed to her.

"Emil-"

 **"NOOO!"**

Before he took another step, the shadows under him grabbed his legs, effectively stopping him, suddenly, several shadows from behind the girl that seemed to be Emilia sprung out to Subaru, he reflexively put up his arms to block the incoming attack...

It didn't hit him, he removed his arms and saw that he was facing something he couldn't describe, well he couldn't really see it since it was completely black, it slowly retracted behind the girl, waiting for another moment to pounce him.

The shadows grabbing his feet released him, but he knew that they would grab him again if he tried to go near. He looked over at the girl on the other side, she was crying, tears could be seen streaming down her cheeks, she was covered in shadows, though they were slowly moving away from her and more to Subaru.

"Em... no your not Emilia..."

He thought to not jump to conclusions as those kinda things resulted in bad endings, he sat down, and closed his eyes, he thought really hard, 'She's not Emilia, but she looks just like her... she's shrouded in...'

"Oh God Your Satella" He took a few steps back, glaring down at the girl that supposedly engulfed everyone, Subaru had learned to despise her, all she cared about was him, killing everyone for him, that was not what he wanted, but why did she do it, they've never met, they shouldn't know each other at all.

"S-Satella... why did you-"

"I'm sorry... I tried to stop her... but I couldn't, the Witch of Envy has been in control for soo long... none of this was supposed to happen... none of this! Because I couldn't control myself, your stuck here, all your friends, are stuck here, but you'll never see them, It's all my fault..."

She said this in a shaky voice filled with guilt and remorse. She sunk to the ground crying, "What! No, calm down and talk to me, what's this place, is there a way to get out, what can't you control!?"

Seeing her like this... no seeing anyone like this, Subaru couldn't bring it in himself to raise his voice, and so, he decided to calmly approach her.

"NO, Subaru you must stay away! If not, they'll attach to you, who knows what will happen then!"

He was abruptly stopped by an unseen hand, it seemed to protrude from Satella herself, he slowly sat down and sighed, "Fine... but you'll have to explain, my utter confusion has made me calm for now, but who knows how long I can keep this up"

After hearing this, her sobs started to die down and she started to calm down as well, "Ok then... before I explain, you should know this... I am Satella, the one that allows you to Return by Death... the one currently outside... is The Witch of Envy..."

He was a little bit confused by this, "So you two are different?"

she nods "Yes, we are... different personalities to be exact, you see, I was given the witch genes of Envy, sadly I wasn't compatible with it and so, my mind surrendered to the witch genes and thus I lost control, I tried my best to suppress them but they soon the took over completely, the only reason we can talk right now is because she is currently outside..."

"Then, the whole world being engulfed by shadows... was not you?

"Well... that one was kinda... in between, you see, I still had the most control over myself... but there were some issues... I'm not very sure, you see, my memories... have been tampered with and thus evoked some unwanted emotions, since the Witch genes have corrupted a part of me, I wasn't able to control those emotions very well and that resulted in... that..."

"So... that means we're stuck in here right?" he said with a pained expression.

"Not necessarily... You can no longer Return by Death as of now... but... I really don't want to, but I can transfer the witch genes of Envy to you... it may be our only sole chance of survival, you'll be able to Return by Death on your own but..."

"I'll do it! NOW!"

He got up and looks at her with pleading eyes.

"But there would be grave consequences if-"  
"I don't give a shit, better than staying here!"

He kept on begging and in the end, she relented, "Fine, but once you gain the Witch genes of Envy, the other eight will follow along, that would be deadly if you aren't compatible, I can help manage them and thus... I must come along with you..." She said the last part rather shyly.

"..."  
He thought about it for a while, "Why do you want to help me?"

"I'm sure The Witch of Envy made it clear, we both have the same memories and feelings. If you want I can say it again..."  
"No, no, no, no, no, any more and my eardrums will burst ok! But can I ask why you do... this is like, literally the first time we've met"

"Hmm... nope, it's a secret" she gave him a cheeky smile, "just know that I do, ok?"

He sighs and drops his shoulders down in disappointment, 'another girl in the harem, I guess'.

.

"Soo... how do we do this?"

"Oh that's simple just run fast enough so that you can touch me and then just kill yourself, done"

"Don't say the last part so casually, trying to kill yourself isn't an easy thing to do you know!"

"Yep, of course, I do, I've seen you do it once, I've seen you die many times, all of them actually, and of course it pains me to see a person I love die, though you could say I've gotten used to the sight?"

He looks at her in astonishment, "Nevermind, let's get out of here, I don't want to stay any longer, this place is giving me the creeps, don't know how you've survived four hundred years of this..."

He stepped up and started walking to her, the next moment, shadows were already shrouding him and in no time he was covered. Satella walked up and staggered towards him, she brought out a dark purple crystal necklace and touched him with it, the next moment the whole world turned completely black again, darkness was everywhere.

Subaru was freed from the shadows and had a rumbling feeling in his stomach region, "Satella?" He called out but there was no answer.

"Damn it, did she ditch me!?"

He kicked the ground and noticed that there was a necklace, lined with a purple gem lying down, it glowed. He picked it up and heard a voice, "Watch where your kicking!"

"S-Satella" He held the crystal up and looked into it, he saw her inside "Yeah, I'll be in this crystal for the rest of the journey, not the comfiest place but great none the less, it should prevent any unwanted attention, but your sweetheart Rem might find out, that is quite troubling..."

"Hey don't talk like you've seen everything!"

"Huh? But I have, I watch you all the time, from the moment you've set foot in the capital till now, there's nothing I haven't see, so there's no use hiding it from me"

"Damn it, so you're telling me I've been stalked this whole time!? Can't a guy have some privacy, I suppose!"

She laughed at his imitation of Beatrice, "Okay put me on and then you do your thing, though if it's too much I can do it for you"

He puts the crystal on "Please do, and make sure to make it painless okay? I've gotten hurt a lot recently and I think I could use a break" Once the crystal was placed on his neck his whole body started shrouding black see-through mist, his eyes had a red glimmer to it and he had an aura of death, but the next thing he knew he was dead.

"UGh... pwahh!"

He spat out the dust on his mouth, and got up from the floor he scanned his surroundings and confirmed it, he's at the tomb, he walked in and found Emilia leaning on the wall, asleep, her face showed a pained expression, she was still taking the trials, he breathed a big sigh of relief, he looked to his neck and saw the purple crystal.

"Satella?"

"Right here, don't worry, I'll control Return by Death for now, you concentrate on breaking through Sanctuary, okay?"

"Right... Alright then, this looks like it's gonna be a fun ride..."

He proceeds to wake up Emilia and do all the normal things he's done in the past loops, though this time, he has a helping hand.

* * *

A/N

New fic, it branches off from The Perpetual Promise, though the exact chapter still hasn't released yet.I Kinda short but Prologues are meant to be short so sorry... I'm now updating two fics at the same time, shouldn't be too hard since I've got a whole month of free time, let's see if we can finish this by then, maybe once every four days? maybe that's too fast but who cares...

Big shouts to Christian Red for making up the plot and the whole idea for this fic, he requested me to type it down so here it is.

If anyone has some suggestions for this fic We're open for some, leave some Reviews on what you think about it, Okay?

Here are some things you need to be aware of, Subaru gains one set of Authorities, one authority for each sin he gained, in this case, he gained all of them since Satella gave what she had to him, when he kills the other sin archbishops, along with Pandora and Hector he gets the second set.

Here are the current but not final list of Authorities

Authorities

 **1\. Envy** : Return by Death and Shadow Manipulation  
 **2\. Sloth** : Invisible Providence and Miasma Expulsion  
 **3\. Wrath** : Emotion Linkage and Infernal Touch  
 **4\. Gluttony** : Retention and Eclipse  
 **5\. Greed** : Spatial Rend and Time Stillness  
 **6\. Lust** : Alteration and Regeneration  
 **7\. Pride** : Demonic Rage and Epitome of Sin  
 **8\. Trisitia** : Field Distortion and Life Leech  
 **9\. Vainglory** : Judgement and Shadow Flame

Umm, this is gonna be a loooong list so of explanations for each okay...

Primary Authorities

 **Return by Death** : The user is able to rewind time upon death to a previously established save point, all memories are kept during the use of the ability.  
 **Invisible Providence** : The user is able to create an unseen force that can interfere with their surroundings.  
 **Emotion Linkage** : The user is able to sense emotions and pain and share them with the surrounding people, it can be stacked upon for increased effect.  
 **Retention** : Upon contact with another person, the user is able to review all their memories and is able to partially interfere and remove bits of it.  
 **Spacial Rend** : The user is able to tear space and link two known places together regardless of distance, the user can even link two places from different dimensions, though it would bring a heavy toll on the user's body.  
 **Alteration** : The user is able to mutate any organic material at will, be it their own or others.  
 **Demonic Rage** : While active, the user's mana generation rate increases, it heightens their strength and increases their defenses. It is similar to an Oni's horn and the user's eyes glows a crimson red when in use.  
 **Feild Distortion** : The user is able to create a gravity-like force that can affect both physical things and magic.  
 **Judgment** : The user becomes the targets greatest fear when they look at the user, it's movement completely halts, when it hears the users voice it goes insane, it's effectiveness is dependant on the target's guilt.

Secondary Authorities

 **Shadow Manipulation** : The user is able to control and create shadows, these shadows are solid and have is made up of the material the shadow forms on.  
 **Miasma Expulsion** : The user is able to shroud their surroundings in Miasma, it attacks the opponent's mind, driving them to madness depending on the intensity of the Miasma.  
 **Infernal Touch** : The user is able to set anything ablaze given physical contact, the fire doesn't burn the object but is able to spread out and cause big fires.  
 **Total Eclipse** : During usage, the user is able to move at insane speeds, a dark mist shrouds their figure while activated.  
 **Counter** : The user is able to send any ranged attack, back to its shooter or caster, though, the counter would cause damage to the weapon or anything else that's used.  
 **Regeneration** : When this ability is activated, the user gains accelerated healing, though will still linger for a while.  
 **Leech Life** : Everything within a set proximity to the user gets their energy drained slowly.  
 **Shadow Flame** : The user is able to manifest purple flames, they don't emit heat but can burn anything when it comes in contact.

Secondary authorities can be activated by using one of the authorities of pride, Epitome of Sin, aka Pride mode, It trades in a chunk of the user's sanity for an extreme power boost.

Most of these were made by Christian Red, I just did some rearranging, renaming and some nerfing too. As of now, he had all the first set, and the second authority for pride, sloth, and envy.

WOOOH, that was a lot of explanation, any question please leave them in a review or just PM me or Christian Red and we'll clear it up for ya K?

Updates will be hopefully good speed, so thanks in advance for waiting.


	2. Chapter 1: Awakening of the Warlock

**Warlock of Sin. Arc 1: Prelusion**

 **Chapter 1: Awakening of the Warlock**

"So, this crazy lady goin for sis?"  
"Yep, Elsa Greinhart, Guthunter, don't worry about holding back, she's got some kind of super healing ability so killing her will be extremely hard"  
"When you say it like that I kinda doubted that you went up with her Natsuki-san"  
"Well last time, Reinhardt came and helped out, was lucky back then"

Subaru was driving the carriage with Otto, Patarasche and Verhoe were going full speed to the village. Along with Otto and Garfiel, Subaru was planning to evacuate the two maids in the mansion then proceed to deal with Elsa alongside Garfiel, he also wanted to try out some new moves.

"Garfiel you go ahead, upstairs somewhere on the right wing, Frederica should be there accompanying Petra while she does her studies, we'll catch up later, and don't worry about destroying a few walls"  
"Right then Boss"

He dropped from the carriage and leapt towards the mansion in the distance, Otto had parked the ground dragon in the village then ran straight for the mansion, meanwhile Subaru had gathered everyone in the village around the square, "Everyone, I need you to all stay inside your houses, please lock your doors, currently a bloodthirsty vampire is at the Roswaal mansion, we currently have someone dealing with her but there is still a slight chance that she may escape and she'd be headed towards the village"

All of a sudden the whole village was panicking, not what Subaru was aiming for but they were going in their houses, locking their doors, two people came up to Subaru, fear was in their eyes, "S-Subaru-sama, what about Petra!?"

"Petra... it's ok, we have proper countermeasures for things like this, everyone in the mansion is currently being evacuated, for now, just worry about yourselves, I'll make sue Petra's ok"

The parents nodded and went off to their own house, Subaru started running towards the mansion, he grabs from his pocket a purple crystal, it was glowing "So... Ella, what cool abilities do I get?" he asked the crystal.

"Quite a lot actually, hmm... for now you should just use my Shadow Manipulation, imagine in your head, a whole ocean that you can manipulate freely, you give them orders through your mind, like tell them to spike up, grab things, throw them, crush them, stuff like that. It'd be best to shout out commands or make hand gestures to hone your concentration and visualizing ability before you use your head alone"

"Hmm, that seems cool, let's give it a try..."

* * *

The magic lamps had all suddenly turned off, must be some mana interference magic, in a hallway, two women were clashing, one had kukri blades on both arms while the other had claws.

"Such a nice dance partner, though I do have a job to do" Having said that, Elsa threw one of her daggers at Frederica, she used her claws to deflect them, but it left her vulnerable to the other dagger that she threw right after. It went much faster than the last one so she wasn't able to dodge it, but then.

 _*clang*_

Someone jumped between them and metal clashed with metal. The kukri blade broke into two as it made impact. In front of Frederica was Garfiel, on his arms were two silver twin shields, "Nothings gettin past the strongest shield, my amazin' self"

Hearing his voice Frederica widened his eyes, "Garf?!"

Garfiel turns around to face his sister, "Yep, that's m- the hell! Is that supposed to be my sis, ain't you outta be an incy bit smaller or somethin?" His remark earned him a hit in the head by Frederica.

"How rude garf, even though we are siblings, I am still a lady, do you really think Ram would like it if you acted like that?"

"Ouch... nah guess not," He shakes himself up and gets into a battle stance as he faces back to Elsa, "The boss says your not invited, can't let you go an crash the party now... sis, I need ya to go an get the little girl out"

"But Garf," He raised his hand up to stop her, "No, I'll handle her..."

He leers down at his opponent as she stood there listening to their conversation, "I'll probably be soaked up with this battle, so I don't care if you decide to flee" she licks her lips and grabbed two more knives from a belt she had on. "This will be fun..."

The next moment the two rush at each other, metal clashing with metal again.

* * *

"Otto-sama!?"  
"Petra-chan, where's Frederica?"  
"Frederica Onee-sama is upstairs fighting another woman, and..."

 _*crash*_

The window from an adjacent room broke and it came several large bat-winged mice, they came charging for them, Otto went in front to block Petra from them but then suddenly from the hallway, Frederica dashed front and slashed them away with her claws, their bloodied bodies littered the floor.

"Petra, Otto-sama!"  
"Frederica Onee-sama!"

She got up and ran up to them, "Otto-sama, Is Subaru-sama here?"

"Natsuki-san will be here short- Look out!"

From the same window, two hyena-like mabeast lunged at them they were more than twice the size of a regular human being,

"DONA"

Otto reacted quickly, a chunk of earth erupted from the floor effectively repelling them back, Frederica held Petra close, Frederica could fight them alone and let Otto escape with Petra, but she might not be able to handle for long.

The mabeast slowly advanced forward, ready to jump at any moment, any wrong movements and it would be the end of them.

.

It has been a whole minute of them slowly backing away, Petra was utterly terrified, just then the moon had been uncovered from the clouds and the hallway was lit, though the remaining shadows grew more intense.

Suddenly, one of them tried to pounce on Frederica, she tossed Petra over to Otto and kicked the mabeast in its snout, though she was clawed as it was sent tumbling to the wall, she backed off as the mabeasts regain their senses.

Both of then suddenly dashed forward, at incredible, speed, Frederica pushed Otto far back as she stood to take the hit, **"Frederica Onee-sama!"**

She was mauled to death...

.

.

.

.

At least... That's what they all thought, Petra removed her arms from her head to see ahead and saw that the mabeasts were lying on the ground, small black spikes protruding from their bodies, Frederica was fine and well...

"ah..."

Frederica was trembling in place, just a second ago she thought she was done for. They were all shocked, just then they heard footsteps and ragged breathing coming from in front of them, there was a red glimmer, they all snapped out of it and took defensive positions.

"Haah... huuh... sorry I'm late guys..."

From the shadows emerged Subaru, clearly out of breath, his tracksuit had a few cuts on it, "Natsuki-san?! What happened?"

"Yep it's me, huuh... mabeast are outside, we have to use the office's passageway, haah... come on, while Garfiel's busy with miss guthunter we'll get you out... huuh..."  
"But what was that? Who did that?"  
"Dammit Otto, you wanna live or find these answers, it's really complicated so just stick with me for a second okay?!"  
"Right!"

* * *

A blade was coming straight for his face, seeing that both his arms were spread apart and that it was too close to dodge, he did the only thing he could think of doing, he bit the knife and it broke apart.

"Fer a guthunter, yer doin a terrible job, I mean why yous lettin your targets get away?"

"Ahh, the simple answer would be because I see a stronger opponent more than a job... though in actuality, the whole mansion is swarmed with mabeasts and I've sealed off a very important exit route... according to my contractor, that's the first place they'll look," A devious smile crept on her face, "So what now? Are you going to run off to warn them?"

He cracked his knuckles and shrugs, he got on a battle stance and glares at Elsa.

"Nah, the Boss's gonna handle em"  
"Oh... your quite confident about this person, he must quite the warrior, mind if you give me his name?"  
"He said he faced ya once before, the Boss's Natsuki Subaru, that ring a bell for ya?"  
"Oh, so that small fry is here? I must say that he is quite quick-witted and has absolutely perfect timing... though if I were to describe him, I could do it easily with one word... weak"  
"Ain't gonna let ya diss the Boss like that" He cracks his neck, "Let's get going, got some people waiting on me"

* * *

They others were running away from several mabeast, Subaru was at watching the rear while Frederica lead them, whenever they turned a corner, Subaru would slow down and swiftly deal with the mabeast following them.

"So the only way out is this secret passageway?"  
"Yep, Ros-chi has it hidden on his office, though... NO WAIT!"

They stopped in their tracks and looked at Subaru, "Elsa... if she wanted to get us all, she would have to wait there... "

"But she's elsewhere fighting Garf"  
"Hmm, it would make no sense why she left her post..."  
"That means... either she's letting us leave or... someone else is guarding it..."

"The possibility that a strong mabeast is guarding the door is highly likely Subaru-sama... what should we do?"

They all turned to Subaru who would usually come up with a plan, he stopped to catch his breath and leaned on the wall, he closed his eyes, he was thinking of something. On his hand was the purple crystal and it was glowing.

 _"So what do you think, Ella?"_  
 _"Tough spot... but if we can bait it out with miasma and let the others escape, we can handle it with Shadow Manipulation and Invisible Providence... It might be risky but it's the only way"_  
 _"Do mabeast have like... a weakness or something?"_  
 _"Well, Daphne's told me that mabeast never liked fire, there's that"_  
 _"Fine then,_ **we're burning the mansion"**

He said the last part out loud which startled everyone.

"B-Burn the mansion?! What do you mean Subaru-sama?"  
"Burning the Mathers property, isn't that a bit much Natsuki-san!?"  
"Oh come on now Otto, don't you feel a little frustrated that he TRIED TO TAKE OUR LIFE AWAY! Anyway we were planning on moving anyway so there's not really any problem there"

They all looked at Frederica for the final decision, "I'd very much like to stay alive, especially when my little brother finally decides to leave Sanctuary"

"It's decided then... we're burnin this place down!"  
"But Natsuki-san, how are we going to bait it out"

"Well..."

Naturally, he would play bait, he's done it twice and he'll gladly do it again. He chuckled at the thought and they started preparing.

* * *

He heard mumbling somewhere in a distant hallway, even though, he diligently stayed, not moving from his assigned position, that was what his master had told him to do and as such he will do.

He stood a little bit taller than an average male human, his skin was nearly as tough as metal, his tail was soo sharp it would cut through wood like a knife through butter. His mane was dyed a glimmering silver and his eyes were crimson red, this was Guiltylowe.

.

.

.

.

The murmurs grew more strong and a familiar stench entered his nostrils, he resisted the urge to get up and sat there, waiting until his prey showed themselves.

.

.

.

.

Suddenly, the stenches intensity skyrockets, he could no longer resist the urge, he gets up slowly and walks towards its direction. He could hear voices from an through the wall, he laughs to himself in the inside, 'What a bunch of foolish, unsuspecting prey' he thought to himself.

"Bu... the... ..es..."

At first the voices were just mumbling but then they made sense, "Come Get Me!" he heard the voice scream, with response to the loud voice, the beast growled fearfully and crashed through the wooden wall and landed in the mansion's kitchen, he scanned the dark room and saw a figure, its eyes gleamed red just like his own, before he was going to lunge for it...

 **"SHAMAK!"**

Black clouds shrouded the whole room, he was dazed as he was entrapped by the yin spell, he heard large objects falling and liquids pouring down, wet footsteps around him, under his feet he felt the very slippery liquid gushing through, his sense of smell and sight was diminished by the yin spell but he let out an ear-shattering roar and the black clouds subsided, no one was in the room, though there was something else.

Fire

The liquid that was poured under his feet was oil and it was being lit up, he quickly reacted, using his tail to crush the fire, though it only resulted in oil being splashed up, it covered his body and it started to burn. He let out another roar, but this one wasn't like the other one, he roared of fear, he was dying, and to a trick that his prey had set up, it showed just how gullible he was.

* * *

"WOOOHOOO! We did it! That felt amazing!"

Subaru shouted victoriously as they ran back up the stairs.

"Natsuki-san! That was not amazing, we were facing Guiltylowe!"  
"A mabeast that rules whole forests, Subaru-sama, have we been just a little bit careless, we would have all been killed in an instant!"

"Aw, come on guys, that only makes what we did more amazing, now I can really call myself a mabeast slayer"

 _Note: There's his pride persona d('u')_

His behavior would be natural, if it weren't for their current conditions, the mansion was now on fire, hundreds of mabeast were still surrounding the mansion and Elsa was still roaming around fighting with Garfiel, not the safest situation to be in.

 _"Hey, Ella that was cool right?"_  
 _"Well, I didn't expect it to be Guiltylowe, I'm actually impressed that we managed to pull that off"_  
 _"Hell Yeah!"_

 _"..."_  
 _"Wait, Subaru, tell everyone to stop!"_

"Huh? Hey, guys wait up for a second..."  
"What is it Natsuki-san?"

Subaru closed his eyes, he could feel something, some kind of emotion, it was... hunger... no bloodlust...

 _"Can you feel it?"_  
 _"Yeah, it feels pretty thirsty for blood, what is this anyway?"_  
 _"We are currently using the authority of Wrath, we can sense emotions and pain, so someone near here really wants blood..."_  
 _"Yeah... wait... I think it's coming from... !"_

 **"Everyone move!"**

After shouting that, Subaru pushed everyone aside, they fell hard on the wooden floor and then all of a sudden the wall that they had just moved from bursted open, a massive hippo crashed in, it seemed almost three times larger than the normal ones Subaru had seen in the zoo, from the hole emerged more mabeast, they were large snakes, they all stared at them with the intention of ripping their guts apart, but they didn't move...

"Man, Onii-san, you smell funny, it's getting hard to control them, you know?"

From atop the large beast, a sweet voice rung down, they got on their feet and looked up, riding the mabeast they saw a little girl, she had light cyan hair that was tied to a braid, she wore something that resembled a funerals dress.

"Meili-san?!" Petra called out.  
"Oh, Hello Petra-chan, It's been a while, I'm very sorry but I've been tasked with exterminating you, and I was soo close too! if only Onii-san didn't push you out of the way, haah..."  
"So you're responsible for the mabeast incident weren't you?"

Everyone was terrified and on guard, but Subaru he was calm, he walked forward without a bit of fear and asked her this question.

"Yep, it was me, I can't believe Onii-san was able to survive that, you're braver than you look you know?"

"Flattery won't get you anywhere" He started to walk forward, his eyes gleamed red and leered at her.

"N-Natsuki-san!"  
"Subaru-sama, what are you-"

"Frederica, Otto, get Petra out of here, I can handle this" He chuckles and cracks his knuckles.

"NO Subaru-sama!"

He turns around and shows everyone that his hazel eyes have turned red and were glowing brightly, "I might not be able to tell who's who soon so you'd better get going" He gave them a confident smile.

Petra was horrified, so was Frederica and Otto, there was no way take them all at once, heck he probably couldn't even take out one, imagine all of this. Seeing that they weren't willing to leave him behind he started laughing maniacally.

"Fine then, I'll bring them away from you" He raised his hands to the side the wall and his eyes narrows, **"Invisible Providence!"**

Several unseen hands sprouted from his chest and destroyed a section of the wall and exited through another hallway, everyone, including Meili was surprised, to them the whole wall just broke down on its own, "Come and get me!"

Without warning he jumped straight through, this shocked everyone, they were all stunned for a moment until they heard him shout again, **"Miasma Expulsion!"**

Suddenly all the mabeast roared, they all followed him through the hole. The others watched as they one by one crashed through the mansion walls, they were utterly terrified of the sight, Petra rushed in to see but was grabbed by Frederica.

"Frederic onee-sama!"  
"No Petra, look"

From the hole emerged smoke, it wasn't magic, that was the smoke from a fire, the fire they set off at the kitchen, it was now spreading and Subaru was leading them towards the fire but then that means...

"SUBARU!" Petra screams as Frederica carries her away with Otto.

"Natsuki-san... don't you die on us..."

* * *

*clang*

He bit down on another knife, she was now down to three and one was on her stuck on her shoulder. She grabbed it out, blood gushed out of the wound but it was healed in just a few seconds.

"So yer really are like them vampires ey?"  
"Hmm, well I don't burn in daylight but... I do like the smell of blood, hehehe"  
"Ya creep!"

She laughs maniacally and dashes forward, her left shoulder had been crushed by Garfiel's shield but they were still there and it would give her the chance to heal them. She jumped up and aimed a kick to Garfiel's side, he blocked it with his shield but the momentum knocked him back a bit, he slid to the wall and she threw her knife at him, he turned his head and it missed narrowly, slicing a bit of his right ear.

They were both bloody, they seemed evenly matched in terms of strength but when it comes to weaponry, Garfiel is superior, at least for now, she giggles as she raises her previously crushed shoulder.

"You really are a great man, maybe if we weren't enemies I might want to spend some time with you, haha!"  
"Shut it, I've reserved my amazin' self for Ram so you're outta luck"  
"Oh well, might as well finish this now, sad how this has to end so soon"  
"Actually, quicker the better fer me!"

From inside her cloak she brought out two more kukri blades, though these were different from the ones she was using before, one was black, one of its sides was saw-like with several pointy tips, the other was white and had was extremely sharp, it was so sharp that the tip of it had an excellent glimmer even in the darkness.

Garfiel grips his shields harder as he leers at Elsa, though he suddenly smelt something in the air, smoke, there was a fire nearby, and he knew exactly what that means. He concentrated, deep inside, he summoned his demi-human blood, it boils, he felt the fury, his arms began to increase in size, golden fur sprouting from his arms up, his eyes turned yellow as he faces his opponent, this was partial beastification. The battle was reaching its climax.

* * *

"Whaaa! No Wagpig we want the other's, Onii-san's not worth it, he just stinks!"

The horde of mabeast followed Subaru down the hallway, it was dark, he then suddenly stopped and looked back. Instinctively sensing danger, the mabeast stop as well, his red eyes stared down at them.

"Hey, when did Onii-san have red eyes? Last time I checked they were, yellow or something"  
"Well let's say I went shopping for a little power boost recently and these eyes make me look cool so I took em as well"

He smiled deviously at them, beside him someone appeared, it startled all of them as he was supposed to be the only one there. "And what are you doing Ella?"

"Hey can't let you fight on your own, you won't be able to react fast enough"  
"Are you saying I can't fight!"  
"Nope, I'm saying you're slow! haha!"  
"Ugh, fine, let's get this over with, I'm kinda sweating here"

Meili put a hand over her head, and narrows her eyes, she looked at Satella, though she didn't know she was

"Isn't that the white hair Onee-san? Wasn't her name Emilia or something? Or is Ella like a pet name that shows you two are close?"  
"Huh, actually we are close, we can openly say, I lo-" Subaru covered her mouth.

"No, no, no! There are only three people that I can say that too, your not one of them, got it!"  
"Well I'm not one of them yet" She gave him a loving smile.  
"Agh were you here to fight with me or flirt with me?!"  
"Hmm, how about both?"

"God dammit, just cut the crap and let's start this massacre already!"  
"Geez, alright, looks like someones getting cranky, right then let's show them what we've got Subaru!"

.

More mabeast have entered the field from behind them, Subaru and Satella's backs faced each other as they started fending of the oncoming horde of mabeast, Subaru used Invisible providence to strike them unknowingly while Satella uses her Shadow manipulation to sneakily slice them apart.

"Hey Subaru, ever wondered what it feels like to be an Oni?"  
"Huh, kinda... why do you ask?"  
"This..."

Satella disappeared back into the crystal and said, **"Demonic rage!"**

All of a sudden, Subaru felt a surge of power sent through his body, he felt lighter, faster and stronger, his damaged gate seemed to be strengthened and is absorbing mana at an alarming rate, his eyes glowed bright crimson as more mabeast charged for him.

The winged rats all swarmed towards him, he held his hands out at chanted, **"SHAMAK!"** a cloud of smoke appeared and shrouded them, he slammed his hands to the ground and black spikes shot down from the ceiling.

From behind him several Madara _(The hyena mabeast)_ pounced on him, he spun his body back and swung his fists up, unseen hands burst from the floor and punched a few of them in the ceiling, the ones behind those were charging up to him, he raises his other arm and shadows from underneath their feet grabbed them, one was able to jump in time and tried to slash at Subaru though it was slammed down to the ground before it reached him.

"Ella?"  
"That was authority of Trisistia, **Field Distortion** , in your worl, it would be like manipulating what you call gravity"  
"Cool... let's try something more mainstream here"

He went to face Meili who had been patiently watching him, she was stunned. "I-If you think can beat Wagpig, your highly mistaken!"

"Oh, ofcourse I didn't think I could beat him..."  
"Hah, backing away are you, Onii-san"  
"I know I can beat him!" he gave her a nasty smile.  
"Huh?"

He raised both his arms and pointed towards the oversized hippo, the Arkalb _(Snake mabeast)_ had scattered away, they are very sensitive to mana and they felt an enormous amount coming from Subaru's direction.

"Huh? W-Where are you going?"  
"Thanks for the spell Beako!"

He red eys turned bloodshot, from behind him several purple lights formed.

 **"EL-MINYA!"**

The lights formed into dark purple stakes, sharp and refined, there was about a hundred of them and they were aimed straight for the Wagpig. They shot forward at a blinding speed, piercing through the monsters tough hide, it wailed in pain and started to swing it's injured head around, it smashed itself through the walls in an attempt remove the hundreds of stakes that had stabbed it.

Meili had fallen over head first to the floor, knocking her out. The Wagpig crashed straight to the kitchen and was now burning, Subaru walked up to Meili and sighed, "I really do want to just leave you here but that would be a bad thing wouldn't it"

 _"That would be terrible, how could you even think about such things Subaru!"_ Satella said jokingly.

His eyes turned back to their normal hazel color, "Not sure, I just feel different when I'm like this... must be the witch genes or something..." He walks up and picks up the unconscious girl. He was running towards an open window but suddenly.

 _"SUBARU! Something's wrong at Sanctuary, I suppose!"_

It was Beatrice, she was communicating to Subaru via their contract. It seems something has happened at Sanctuary, as if they had enough problems. He stopped in his tracks and concentrated.

 _"Beako!? What's wrong?"_  
 _"It's already snowing, the freak is doing it a day early, hurry back, I suppose!"_  
 _"Shit, okay, you guys hold them up, we're just about done here!"_

From above the ceiling, Garfiel came crashing with Elsa, she was knocked out unconscious, though if they didn't do anything she'd just spring back to life in any moment.

"Boss!"  
"Garfiel, did ya kill her?"  
"Not yet, kinda hesitant over here, tell me something that will push me over or something"  
"No time for that just toss her over the flame and we'll be done with it"

Not wasting a second, Garfiel grabbed her by the leg and threw her over to the burning floor, Subaru gave him Meili, "Take her and meet up with everyone else, there's a problem at Sanctuary, I'll use... Gate crossing to get there, yeah"  
"Right!"

He put the little girl on his back and smashed through the window, and jumped straight through the forest.

 _"So... Ella? You got anything we can use to teleport?"_  
 _"Authority of greed,_ _ **Spacial Rend!**_ _"_

Infront of him a rift formed and on the other side they saw a snowing sanctuary, Rem and Emilia were leading the citizens of Sanctuary down the tomb, Subaru stepped out and was met by Beatrice, she looks warmly at him but gives a sour look at the purple crystal on his neck.

"Oh come on Betty, It's not like I'm stealing him from you," Satella said, very quietly.  
"Who gave you permission to call Betty Betty, I suppose!"  
"Oh come on, It's cute when I call you that"  
"Shut up, I suppose!"

"Subaru?"  
"Subaru-kun?"

Emilia and Rem heard Beatrice's yelling and ran to check out what it was about, to their surprise Subaru was there, "You got here really fast Subaru"

"Yeah... Beako helped me out with Gate crossing" that was lie and Rem saw through it, but she kept her mouth shut as there are more important things.

* * *

Garfiel kept on leaping through the forests, easily outrunning the mabeast that were chasing him, he made it to where everyone else was and sat down with them.

"So how did it go Garfiel?"  
"Tough lady, real crazy too, though thas nothing my amazin' self can't handle. Glad ya didn' burn in the fire Otto-Nii!"  
"Ugh... can I ever get some rest from these comments..."

They had all laughed at this, all but Petra of course, "Uhm... Garfiel-sama... Subaru..."

"The Boss's headed to Sanctuary again, he told me he used some Gate crossin or whatever, he was fine when I found em, no big injuries jus some burn patches is all"

They all sigh in relief as Petra wipes away her tears.

* * *

"You guys ready!"

"YEAH!" They all said, Subaru, Beatrice, Rem, and Emilia took their positions, Rem and Emilia took the back while Subaru and Beatrice were at the front.

"Their coming, I suppose..."

From the forest emerged, a few... no, not just a few, it was about a thousand rabbits and they were charging straight for them, or more precisely for Emilia and Beatrice because of their high mana reserves. Subaru and Beatrice readied themselves with Murak and started firing their shots.

 **"MINYA"**

They chanted together, several purple stakes shot down as the rabbits tried to jump at them, the white puff balls quickly turned red as each stake impaled one, Rem and Emilia were also attacking from the back, summoning Ice spears and shooting them at any that came near.

Even though they were killing them, their numbers didn't decrease, for some reason, there was still the exact same amount of rabbits. Subaru decided to use some of his own tricks and aimed the palm of his hand down, he shouted out, **"Invisible Providence!"**

A rather large unseen hand came crashing down, crushing all the rabbits under them, with that almost a quarter was wiped out at once, though the rest of them came up and ate the bloody corpses and replicated, cannibalism, Subaru thought.

"This ain't going anywhere, we can't do anything unless we get them all at once!"

 _"Might I assist you with..._ _ **Demonic Rage!**_ _"_

His eyes turned bloodshot once again, his smile turned murderous as he glared down at the bunnies with hatred in his eyes, he gripped onto Beatrice's hand and said, "This is for trying to eat up our friends! **EL-MINYA!** "

They sent a shower of Minya stakes raining down, about a hundred was shot down at a time, Emilia felt the atmospheric mana deplete rather quickly, then she glanced up at Subaru and saw how his eyes had a red shimmer to it. Their numbers were dying down quickly. If they had a chance this would be their only one.

"Emilia, Rem! Trap the remaining ones now!" They heard him scream.

They walked forward and faced the palm of their hands to the now diminished amount of rabbits, they concentrated and chanted in unison, **"UL-HUMA!"**

Several Ice spikes shot up from the ground surrounding the remaining rabbits, effectively trapping them, they reached up high so it would be impossible to climb up, Subaru threw Beatrice up higher so that she was directly above them, she concentrated her mana into her hand and looks down.

"Witness the power of Betty the Great Spirit, I suppose!"

Her hand started to glow, signaling an incredible amount of mana being used.

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **"AL-MINYAAAA!"**

Infront of her hand a pattern made out of pure mana was formed, it was asymmetrical and had a purple tint to it, under it formed a rift that was aiming right at the bunnies, suddenly, thousands and thousands of Minya bolts rained down at a blinding speed, tearing through the air so fast that a trial of smoke can be seen behind them. It ripped through the bunnies, reducing their already depleted numbers until not a single one was alive.

The Minya storm, as Subaru described, subsided and the rift disappeared, Beatrice lost a lot of mana and fell down. Subaru ran and caught her with an unseen hand, he lowered her down and carried her, "Did Betty do good... I suppose..."

"Did you do good?! You were amazing! Why didn't you tell me you could do that!"

Subaru's eyes returned back to normal as he spun Beatrice around, she was too exhausted to care so she just let him be. He fell down head first to the snow with Beatrice and they all started laughing. The purple crystal on his neck glowed brightly showing that the person inside was also happy.

 _"Hahaha! I finally did it..."_  
 _"Yep, good job Subaru!"_  
 _"Yeah, though, I guess I couldn't have done it with your help so... thanks, Ella"_  
 _"No problem, just doing what I can to help my beloved, hehe"_

 _"Betty can hear you, I suppose!"_  
 _"Oh, and is Betty Jealous?"_  
 _"AGH, Stop calling me Betty, I suppose!"_

The four played in the snow for a while as they were waiting for the others to return, Sanctuary's tragedy had been resolved and now Subaru has a few new members in the camp, though one may not be very welcomed...

* * *

 **A/N**

 **HOLY SHIT this was a long chapter... I originally wanted to make this 3000 words but hell, I went ahead and did 5500, and it's all action packed, I hope you enjoyed it, I'm starting to get the hang of writing action sequences, not that hard anymore!**

 **Anyway, wasn't able to introduce all the authorities but we'll do that another time, anyway now things are going to get non-canon for a while!**

 **Gonna go do chapter 6 of APP now, see ya after that K! Upload speeds** **will** **differ.**


	3. Chapter 2: The Journey Home

**Warlock of Sin. Arc 1: Prelusion**

 **Chapter 2: The Journey Home**

"Haah..."

Subaru took a huge sigh as he fell on the bed. Knighting ceremony, moving into a new mansion, reporting things to the council, helping out the citizens of Sanctuary, it has been a long and tiring week for Subaru, knight of Emilia and in addition, though in secret, the Warlock of the deadly sins.

As of now, everyone taking part in the royal election has been notified of his knightship, with Crusch holding the ceremony in her estate as per her own request. Though, about him being a Warlock and all, only he himself, Beatrice, and Satella knows about it.

He had a hard time explaining what happened at the mansion to everyone, the slight change in his eye color, the exponential increase in witch miasma around him, and the strange crystal in his neck, though Beatrice was able to save his skin by mentioning that he had absorbed the Witch genes of Sloth during the subjugation and that she had given that crystal to him to aid in controlling them.

At first, Beatrice was horrified, not at the fact that Satella was freed from her seal, but the fact that Subaru accepted her so easily. He had to explain her situation to her, and even though she was reluctant, she ultimately succumbed. She was still very wary of her, she was the one that destroyed half the world four hundred years ago.

Even though Subaru's given them a week to themselves, since he had swordsmanship training to get on with, Beatrice never warms up to her, in front of Subaru that is, though Satella didn't really care all that much. Whenever they talk, Beatrice would be aggravated as Satella would refer to her as 'Betty', as far as Subaru knows, only Puck has had the privilege called her that.

The door swings open and Beatrice walks into the room, sitting beside Subaru on the bed, she takes off the purple crystal on her neck and tosses it on the pillow.

'Hey isn't that a bit too cruel, Betty?!' A voice resonated in their minds, Satella's voice, a voice filled with emotion, "Hmph, Betty doesn't like you so it's only naturally I treat you like this, I suppose!" She said with a sour voice as she kicks her feet in the air.

'Hey Subaru, that was a bit cruel wasn't it?' She complained to Subaru, who could only sigh annoyingly at the two's antics, "Beako's always like that... so not really, she's a top notch tsundere after all… if you know what I mean..." He said while patting her on the head.

Beatrice made a very displeased face, but calms down nonetheless. Subaru was now wearing his new 'uniform' of sorts, some dark blue pants with a simple gray shirt that went a little over the waist. He wore a black and orange striped hoodie of sorts, made by Rem.

"Ah, so that means she secretly likes me!?"  
"No way, I suppose"  
"Aww... Betty is so mean!"

"Enough you two, I'd really like to take a nap right now, so if you don't mind..." Subaru said as he slowly drifted to sleep. Beatrice blew of the candle that was lighting up the room and pulled the sheets over him. "Good night then… Subaru…"

After regrouping with everyone, Subaru had to tamper with Meilie's memories using the authority of Gluttony, they altered bits of the fight. As far as she remembers, only Subaru was present during their battle, he called this new ability, Retention.

As for the Great Hare, a few corpses were brought back to serve as evidence for the battle while the rest were just burnt to ashes. Though the sage council was doubtful for a moment, after seeing Roswaal's injuries they were forced to believe it. Two days after, Subaru's knighting ceremony took place, it was held at the Kartsen residence, and he has been staying there for sword training ever since, the others were staying in the Miload residence.

A purple flash and suddenly another person was in the room, donning a black dress with violet outlines, a outfit that seemed to offset Emilia's own, she had a goofy grin plastered onto her face and amethyst eyes that glowed dimly in the moonlit room.

She looked over to Beatrice with a sparkling smile, her only returning it with a scoff. "Of all the people I have to see again, it just had to be you, I suppose…" Satella opened the balcony door while taking a spare cloak from a nearby hanger, quite similar to Emilia's. "But I was so happy to see you, Beatrice, really" she says while walking out, taking a seat on one of the two chairs.

"The nights really nice, reminds me of that time four hundred years ago…"

After another sigh, Beatrice left her spot on the bed and walked over to the balcony, peering out onto the sight, "Which time exactly?" She says while glancing over at Satella, who could only reply, "You're mean Betty…"

"The grave sin you caused four hundred years ago, don't forget about it, I suppose…"  
"Even if I tried, it wouldn't work… so you still hate me because of it?"

Beatrice stayed silent for a while but then said, "I am not like I was four hundred years ago, I suppose, you could say, I have matured a bit… so-"

"Saying it while you haven't grown an inch is a bit- pfft…" Beatrice glares at Satella for mocking her height but she couldn't help it and lets out a little giggle, "Sorry, sorry… that was rude of me, please, go on…"

"Hmph… I wouldn't say I hate you anymore… no, I don't think I've ever hated you in the first place, I suppose"

"Besides, that's what Subaru would say, I suppose…"

Beatrice takes the seat opposite of Satella and breathes in the night air, "What Subaru would say? What does that mean…" Satella asks her, "It means what it means, I suppose… Subaru doesn't really care much about what happens to the world, as long as the ones he holds dear are safe… Betty is the same, I suppose…"

"But, I killed your mother! How are you okay with that!?"

She said while slamming her fist into the coffee table, making Subaru shake a bit in his sleep, "Shh, I suppose…" She lifts her hands off of the table and back to her lap, looking away, quite upset, "I destroyed half the world, caused him suffering, caused his friends suffering, took him away from his parents, I did so much bad things to him, how would not think of me badly?" She said while looking into Beatrice's eyes.

"Hah, you worry about the most trivial of things… as usual, I suppose…" contrast to Satella's argumentative, Beatrice replied with an air of cool and calmness, "Think, I suppose… the elf girl, Emilia, how much misery has she caused Subaru, I suppose? He went as far as to fight the white whale for her sake, you know how much he's used that deranged ability of his, get it through you head already"

"Even Betty has given him nothing but misery, everytime I threw him out of the library, only for him to come back and meet the same fate every single time, even then, he's still able to look at Betty, and smile as if nothing has happened… Even Roswaal, after all that he's done to follow the Gospel, Subaru was still reluctant to punish him… that's just how he is, I suppose…"

"So… no one's going to think bad of me? No will punish me? For my sins…" she said depressingly.

Beatrice kicks her feet in the air while playing with her hair, "There's plenty of people that hate you already, and the moment you reveal yourself, everyone's going to go berserk… asking to be punished… are you some sort of masochist, I suppose?" Beatrice looks warily at her.

Satella only sighed, and looked outside, "I guess… then, from now on, I'll be in your and Subaru's care, Betty…"

 _The next morning._

"Hmm, this seems like good spot"

Subaru and Beatrice were riding atop Patrasche and they had reached a clearing in the forest outside of the Capital. He got off and scanned the surroundings, he couldn't sense anyone nearby and it doesn't seem like any mabeast were around, even if there were some around, Subaru could probably deal with them.

They stopped in what seemed to be a used camping spot, there were logs set up and the remains of a campfire, he went over to one of the logs and sat down.

He brought out a bag from Patarasche's saddle, it was filled with sweets for them to eat as they talked. He laid the bag down beside his seat, as well as his sword which he got during the knighting ceremony, it was just like the sword given to him by the villagers though it felt slightly lighter but was more sturdier, must have been forged from some rare metal.

"You can come out now, I suppose"

She took out a purple crystal from her satchel and it started to glow brightly, it started to float and a bright light exploded from it, the crystal slowly floated down, it lost its color and was now a dark gray color.

"HAHA, it feels sooooo good to be out!"

In front of them a girl suddenly appeared, she wore a black dress with it's edges colored violet, her hair was silver and it gleamed in the sunlight, it's tips had a shade of lilac as they swayed while she twirled around. Her amethyst eyes shone brightly, her expression would make it seem like she's having the best day of her life.

She kept on twirling and twirling around until she got tired. She fell to the ground on her back, making Beatrice and Subaru sigh. They could hardly believe that she was a witch.

"I wonder if the other witches were like you... what are your relations with them"

"Heh? The others... hmm, well Typhon and Minerva likes to play with me alot, Daphne likes my cooking, Sekhmet and Carmilla... well I don't bother them too much, they don't like talking as much as the others, and Dona-chan...we're not on the best terms but we manage" She let out a slightly sad giggle.

"Seriously, your such a child, I suppose"

"Hey! I was stuck in a dark void, alone, all alone, you stayed in a cozy library with a bed, and I didn't... you know, I almost forgot what color looks like..."

"As if! Betty was stuck with false hope tha-wagh... gwah... mmphh..."

Before she said any more, Subaru stuffed sweets in her mouth, instead of spitting it out, she ate it, grumbling in annoyance.

"Let's not talk about that, thinking about that reminds me of bad things, it gives me shivers... so Ella, we've used... a total of about eight authorities now, I think? How much are left?"

"Authority of Sloth, Envy, Pride, Greed, Gluttony, and Wrath... Invisible Providence, Miasma Expulsion, Shadow Manipulation-"

She went on recapping what he had already known so he got bored, Beatrice was just eating sweets so she wasn't really listening. Patrasche was beside them sitting obediently, watching on the stranger as she went on with her rambling. Subaru patted her head, and she let out a light growl, it got Satella's attention.

"Hey! Are you listening?"  
"Huh? If your gonna ramble about what I already know then no, if you said something new then yes, I was listening"  
"B-But that was two answers?"  
"He means no, I suppose"

Beatrice answered her and she pouted as an answer, being ignored isn't really something she likes. In the end, she ended up summarizing all of it in a few minutes and they were done.

"So... Ella, using Spacial rend, I could connect two places that I've been through, that's kinda like teleporting yeah?"  
"That's right"

"Though you said... we can connect two dimensions together... care to elaborate?"  
"To put it simple... we can go back to your world right now"

.

.

.

.

"..."

.

.

.

.

He stayed silent, Satella was staring at him with a disappointed look while Beatrice was just munching on more sweets. His reaction was not as expected, for someone who was suddenly sent into another world and got mixed up with several problems, a way home would be joyous.

"What's wrong, I suppose..."

"You shouldn't talk with your mouth full Beako… I just don't want to get my hopes too high up..." he said with a straight face, "Though, I'll try it… If it does work, then we'll I'll stay there for a little while... tell my parents that I'm okay, you want to come Beako?"

"Betty will follow Subaru wherever he goes, even if it is to another world"

Satella gave a dissatisfied look while Beatrice received a pat on the head, Satella looks away and pouts, Beatrice gave her a smug look. Subaru and Patrasche just ignored their interaction as they feel like will be the norm.

"So, Ella, can you explain the dangers of Spacial Rend?"

"Hmm, connecting to places on the same dimension consumes your stamina, but connecting to different dimensions will take away bits of your od, it might also comes with other symptoms like headaches, nausea, numbness, and a number of others, though its not likely they'd happen"

"I see... Beako what is od?"

He turns over to his spirit who has intellect that surpasses his tenfold when it comes to this world.

"Od is like mana but each person has a certain amount given them when born, if it depletes, you die, so in a sense..."  
"Od is your life force... so there's a limit, can't keep using it forever then..."

"Not only that but the Witch of Envy will probably try to pull you back Subaru, so we can't stay there for long either, at max I'd say a week until she notices we're gone"

"Right... then we can go say tomorrow and return next week, yeah? Nothing else stopping us?"  
"We would need a reason to leave, I suppose"  
"Yeah, I'll cover that up... so if there is nothing left we should get going, Wilhelm-san's waiting"

"Aww, but I wanted stay out longer! Eh-"

Leaving the displeased girl behind, Beatrice and Subaru mounted on Patrasche and they headed back into the forest. Satella sighed and started fading away until she vanished completely. Subaru was lost in thought, he was really going back. What should he tell his parents, how should he explain, would they believe him?

"Hyaa"

The two wooden blades clashed together, Subaru recoiled back while Wilhelm stood his ground, the skill difference between the two is more or less obvious. Subaru breathed out a tiresome sigh, his

"Subaru-dono, it seems that your concentration today is lacking"  
"I guess something has been on my mind since yesterday..."  
"Oh, might it be another attack?" The old man said jokingly.

"Hehe, no... something of a surprise family reunion you can say... It's been a while since I've seen them" he replied to them. Wilhelm smiled, "A family reunion? How lovely, then, you're going to tell them of your knighting and all your achievements?

"Now that you mention it, I do have to tell them about that… oho, will they be in for a hell of a shock!"

Subaru gripped the handle of his sword hard and brushed off the thought for later and focused on his sword training.

.

Meanwhile, back in the balcony, "Have you been to his world, I suppose?" Beatrice was sitting on a chair under the shade conversing with the silver haired witch in front of Beatrice.

"Nope, not at all… Though, while dragging him over here, I did see how it looked like, it had big buildings that stretch up really high, and I saw mostly humans, there were no demihumans of any kind. I did see cats and dogs though, and it was peaceful. What really caught my attention, besides Subaru, were these super weird metal transport thingies, there were so many types and they're fast, it truly was another world..."

Beatrice's curiosity about Subaru's world only heightened as Satella struggles trying to describe the modern day vehicles to her. "What else did you see, I suppose?"

"I didn't get much more after pulling Subaru back, so that's all I saw, but i'm sure there's more to it than what I saw…"

They all stayed in Crusch's estate for another two days, until it was the day they had to return. As much as Subaru wanted to check out the new mansion, and meet up with everyone else, he can't keep his parents waiting.

He looked over to the two people he's bringing with him. They'd bring a of attention so he had to find a way to stop that. Beatrice was easy, people would just assume she likes to dress up, no problem, but Satella was slightly different, he could just lend her his tracksuit so she blends in but she had those elf ears to worry about.

He had searched the capitals clothing district but he was unable to find something 'modern' enough that could help them, the closest would be an earmuff but no one was selling them at the moment, so he decided to put his sewing skills to good use and made her a beanie.

A plain gray one was more than enough for her but she demanded cat ears put on them, he asked why and her simple reply was, "Cause it will make me look cuter". He could only sigh while he replied to her "We're trying to avoid that you know..."

.

After everything was prepared they had someone take Patrasche back to the mansion, with a note of course. Beatrice and Subaru had left on foot to a place where there would be no eye witnesses, they went back to the same forest. Satella went out and wore the things Subaru gave her. Beatrice just wore her cloak and Subaru wore his Butler uniforms jacket.

They were ready and set, since Satella hasn't been to Subaru's world, she's unable to make the connection, so it was up to Subaru to make the rift.

He focused on connecting his current location with his world, he visualised two bubbles and a string connecting them together, it grew thicker and thicker and it was as thick as a log, he opens his eyes and in front of him, a cracked formed, ripping the very space in front of them.

"Good job, now we just go through here"

She walks though the crack that was just big enough to fit her whole figure in, she motioned them to come in, Subaru took a deep breath and he went in with Beatrice, it looked exactly like how he imagined it, two bubbles connected by a log thick thread.

Out in the distance, they saw thousands of bubbles floating in the dark void.

"Um..."  
"Each of those bubbles holds a universe of its own, Subaru"  
"To think that there could be that many, I suppose..."

Subaru and Beatrice stared silently at the sight as they continued walking. The distance between the two bubbles was about a quarter of a mile and it would take about four minutes at the pace they were going, they took their time as they marveled at the sight before them.

.

In time, they had made it to the the other bubble, Satella grabbed Subaru's hand and places it on the bubble rather forcefully, another crack formed and they were able to see the other side, they stepped in and looked around.

"I know this-" Before he uttered another word, the crack behind them disappeared and Subaru suddenly collapsed.

Rem, Emilia, Garfiel and Petra were waiting outside for Subaru's arrival, they saw a carriage heading towards them, it was being pulled by Patrasche and another ground dragon but to their surprise he wasn't inside the carriage, they started panicking and bombarded the driver with questions, slightly threatening him.

They stopped once he presented them with a letter, Rem took it and read it to everyone. In it was written...

 **...**

 _Hey guys, I really wanted to come back as soon_

 _as possible but a once in a lifetime opportunity_

 _has arisen, if your all worried, don't be, we_

 _are fine, currently, we are on our way-_

 _to my parent's house. Sorry for not informing_

 _you sooner about this I hope you understand,_

 _we'll be back at the latest in a week so see you_

 _soon_

 _ **PS.**_ _Please take care of Patrasche while I'm away ok. d('-')_

 **...**

" _Sigh_ Subaru could have at least told us earlier..."  
"Subaru-kun is so mean… Rem would love to have met his parents..."

"Well tha's the Boss's business so we should leave em to it"  
"Yes, though I hope Subaru-sama returns soon"

They all sighed and apologized to the driver for their sudden outburst, they dispersed doing their usual things.

"Subaru! Subaru! Don't die, I suppose!"

"Oh Nononono! You should have warmed up first!"

Right as Subaru collapsed, both of the girls panicked, they rushed to grab him and laid him down by a nearby tree. They were currently in a park that Subaru is very familiar with.

"Ugh... stop shouting, I'm not dead, im just... my body suddenly feels REALLY tired..."

He got up with the help of Satella and Beatrice. The two scanned their surroundings and their eyes widened, not far into the distance, tall foreign buildings could be seen, they were unlike anything the two has ever seen. Loud sounds were coming from that direction, sounds they have never heard.

"Everything looks just about the same though something feels a bit off about it..." He said as he let the two go.

Subaru's muscles had regained their some of their strength and he was somewhat able to wall, he does a few stretches and dusts himself off. He felt like something was definitely not the same, though he couldn't tell what.

"Ok then, you guys ready?"

He asked the two who were completely stunned at the sight, it was early in the morning and it was rather chilly, a little too chilly. The two girls were completely unresponsive so he decided to just walk past them.

"Eh? Hey, don't leave us behind!"  
"S-Subaru? Wait for Betty, I suppose!"

Breaking off from their trance they raced forward, catching up to Subaru.

.

"There's a dangerous amount of mana in the atmosphere, I suppose..."

As they make their way to the dirt path, Beatrice suddenly informed them about the conditions around them. It made Subaru think for a second before revealing something to them.

"That would make sense... magic isn't something we use here, just science and imagination. That would explain the excessive amount of mana in the air..."

"You don't use magic, I suppose?"

"It means what it means, the concept of magic doesn't exist in this world"

The two stopped in their tracks, Subaru stopped as well and looked at them. They stared at him with utterly confused looks.

"No magic?"  
"Betty... doesn't understand"

"Haah, I was afraid this might happen, to put it simply, using magic doesn't exist here"

"..."  
"..."

They stayed silent and looked around, Beatrice raised her hand and waved it around in the air, as if the grab something. Satella was in deep thought, then Beatrice suddenly chanted, "Minya..." A purple spear formed in front of them, it made Subaru panic as he tells her to remove it.

"Betty can do magic just fine, and mana is present, I suppose! Subaru lied!"  
"NONONO! You don't understand, of course you can use magic! What i'm saying is everyone else can't!"

He told Beatrice, as he was about to turn to Satella, he found that she had already ran off, and she was talking with someone, "O-Oi! What are you doing!?" He said in a loud but whispery voice.

Satella was with another woman, she looks older than her, maybe in her early thirties, she wore casual clothes, probably going for a walk or something. After greeting her, Satella put her hand on the woman's chest, "No gate… I see…"

"Uh… exc-"

"Oi, Ella! Don't go running of like that!"

She said while grabbing her hand, the woman was startled at seeing Subaru, probably has something to do with his eyes, "Ah, is she a foreigner?" she asked Subaru. "Please forgive my friend here, she came just yesterday, and I'm showing her around…"

"Of course" She said while chuckling a bit, "Then, you love birds shouldn't bother with this old hag then, haha"

Subaru froze up to what the woman said while Satella blew up in comparison, "Ah, we-" "Yes, we're currently on a date, thank you for noticing!" Satella said stutteringly. Hearing this, the woman chuckled even more, "But you shouldn't call yourself an old hag, you're still super young you know!"

"Ah, my, that's the kindest thing someone of your age has said, they all keep calling me old I just can't help but get depressed…"

"Getting depressed over such trivial matters, I suppose?"

The intrusion of another voice startled the woman once more, Beatrice walked up to them, "And what's this about 'lovebirds' and 'dates', I suppose?" She said with a cold gaze at Satella. She grabbed her by the collar and picked her up like one would a cat, "Haha, this is Beatrice! My half-sister! She really likes to play dress, she even had me dye her hair like this!" She said nervously while locking Beatrice's lips shut.

"Hoh, my, children really are getting out of hand now aren't that…"  
"Betty can't accept this, I suppose!"

After a while, Subaru was able to split the two away from the woman, learning that her name was Azuka in the process.

.

They didn't attract too much attention, well there wasn't that many people to begin with. But he realised something, everyone else that was in the park wore thick clothing, then Subaru realised something.

"Did we go back in time...?"  
"Eh? What do you mean Subaru?"  
"Such things wouldn't be possible, I suppose"

"It's just, if I align the timings then it should be Spring right about now, or 'Green-sun' as you call it... I left just after winter... and then I spent two months in Lugnica... that should make it about the middle of Spring here, but it's just too cold..."

"Oh... actually, that might be a result of your unskilled use of Spacial Rend... though I'm not sure... ah, maybe it's an implication caused by Return by Death, the timing of our world gets delayed while others keep on going forward, it might be that"

"Then that would mean we didn't go back in time... rather we went ahead, I suppose?"

The concept of time travel of this sort confused his brain, so he decided to just leave it out and just enjoy the moment while it lasts.

 **A/N**

 **Updating this till chapter 7 or 8, basically all of Arc 1**


	4. Chapter 3: A Welcome They Didn't Expect

**Warlock of Sin. Arc 1: Prelusion**

 **Chapter 3: A Welcome They Didn't Expect**

"Wow, this tastes really good!"  
"Betty agrees, I suppose..."

Shortly after leaving making they're way out of the park, Subaru and the other two decided to buy a bite before starting their search for Subaru's long gone home.

Walking along the side of the road, with Beatrice marveling at the metallic forms of transport, bombarding Subaru with questions, the three made a very smooth start. Satella just watched from the back, enjoying ice cream from afar.

"Subaru! What's that I suppose?"

Beatrice pointed feverishly at the window of a store, where a tv was displaying the news. Subaru replied in a tone that seemed much like a lecturer's, "That's a common piece of technology in this world, it's called a television, it works similarly to those witch cult metia, though there are many more uses"

"Like what, I suppose?"

She stared intently on the screen, she couldn't hear what the person was saying and she couldn't understand what the writing was, even though, she was still fascinated by the television and wouldn't move. Her ice cream was starting to drip so Subaru took it out of her hand.

"It's used for entertainment, news broadcasting, education, warnings, Advertisements but the most popular use, time wasting"  
"Time wasting, really? What a weird thing to use this for..."

Satella remarked as she nudged in between them. "Well, it's pretty effective even I'm surprised..." He says to no one in particular. Beatrice, her face literally mashed in with the store's window. She was so focused that she didn't notice the other people walking by, looking at her with chuckles. Subaru couldn't help but smile at her, it somehow caught Beatrice's attention.

"What, I suppose?"  
"Ah, Beako is really cute when she gets excited you know"

"Agreed"  
"W-What?!"

She faced away from the glass window and took Subaru's hand, urging them to leave while eagerly trying to hide her embarrassment. Subaru and Satella themselves laughed as they watched her struggles, they kept on going.

.

As they continued on their walk, Beatrice wouldn't stop fidgeting and looking around, she was desperately trying to control herself but it was obvious that she really wanted to talk about everything. "Beako, if you want, we can explore a little before we get to my parent's house..."

She didn't say a thing but she beamed at him, with sparkling eyes that screamed, 'Yes Please!'. Being faced with such a powerful weapon, he can't say no now. "Right, I'd like to explore too!"

After finishing her ice cream cone, she ran forward and grabbed Subaru's arm and pulled him forward, "Let's go! This is gonna be fun!"

Beatrice joined in, pulling his hand as well. Childish, they were both childish, people who've lived for hundreds of years, acting like ten-year-olds, 'Is that even possible?' he thought to himself as he was dragged to an inevitable whirlpool of whatever it is he's going into.

* * *

The two girls ran around the streets, staring awestruck at the tall buildings, while Subaru babysitted them from behind, thinking back if it was a good idea to bring them along. The three stopped in front of a skyscraper, and a rather large one to add to that.

"Their so big, I suppose..."  
"And they built it without magic, Subaru?!"  
"Yep, here we use our brains and build bigger and better tools that help us with large constructions, hah see there..."

He points towards a construction site, cranes lifting metal pipes, excavators digging through the ground, bulldozers moving around piles of dirt, dump trucks coming in and out, all kinds of machines can be seen. It made Subaru sigh in a memorable sort of a way while the other two just stared. Scaffolding surrounded the metallic skeleton-like structure, whatever they were building it's gonna be big, maybe it's a stadium of sorts.

"Ah..."

Satella and Beatrice gawked at the view in front of them. There weren't many people around, it was still very early in the morning, maybe about five in the morning, the total amount of time they've been walking around for was about thirty minutes. He grabbed them both by the arm and walked on forward, "We don't have all day, come on".

As he was walking, he spotted something familiar, very familiar.

"Why did you stop, I suppose?"  
"That place... hehe..."

"Oh, I remember that place, it was the place where I dragged you into our world!" She said it, almost shouting, prompting Subaru to cover her mouth. "Dammit, be quiet. Your already weird enough the way you are, people will think your mentally deranged if you shout that out! And... I'm not sure if I'm supposed to feel happy or angry that you brought me to Lugunica..."

"Betty would rather you not regret meeting me, I suppose"

"Oh no, I'm super glad I met Beako... it's just, do you know how many times a had to die?! You could have at least like, told me I had the ability or something, Ella" he said while shooting her a cold stare. She replied with a nervous, "Uhm... yeah, sorry about that"

She made an innocent face that could fool no one, to which Subaru sighs to. "Fine lets-"

Then something odd happened, random emotions surfaced into his head, he felt fear lingering in the air, is this what murderers mean when they say they can smell fear? Well, whatever it was Subaru knew exactly why he felt this, "Authority of Wrath, Exalted Sentiment… has activated, hasn't it?

Since an air of intense fear was around, someone was bound to be in danger, and it wasn't just one person, it was two. "That's a pretty long name for an authority… still, there might be trouble, Subaru..." Satella said as she pulled up the sleeves of Subaru's tracksuit that she was wearing.

"Let's go check it out then... just no magic okay guys?"

They both nodded and followed him. Although Beatrice doesn't share the Authorities with Subaru like Satella, she can still sense the emotions that Subaru feels because of their contract, so she was quick to understand the situation. He followed his senses and it leads the three to an alleyway, a common place for crime to take place, Subaru thought

"Four people nearby, two are scared to their wits while the other two seemed to be..."  
"Whatever, it'll be two on two if then, we can handle them..."

 _"Come one stop struggling, they'll pay us and you can leave then!"_

They heard a wilty voice coming from a corner followed by high pitched screaming, and they were accompanied by angry grunts. They rushed and turned the corner, they saw two men force two girls back a wall, clearly frightened beyond compare. Satella stepped up first, putting up a heroic pose and declaring out loud.

"Stop there villain! We aren't gonna let you harm those two cute little girls!"

Satella said while puffing her chest up, it seems like she was trying to intimidate them, though it didn't seem to work, _'Just like Emilia...'_ the other two thought. The two men looked at the three, looking at each of them carefully and one of them laughed loudly, in an almost maniacal way.

"Haha! Two more girls and a brat show up, hey bro let's beat that one up and take those two too!"  
"No, we're only taking these two, no extra luggage"  
"Huh, who gives a shit, we'll dish out their pocket money then"

They started approaching them, Beatrice and Satella got on a defensive stance but Subaru didn't move. He took a good look at the surrounding, it was a rather large alleyway, enough to fit four Subaru's side by side, the two of them were holding wooden bats and one had a coil of rope on his hands, most likely to tie the two up.

"You three, leave this place immediately"  
"Yeah, not gonna happen"

Subaru cracked his knuckles and analyzed the situation. These two are most likely kidnappers, and they were probably going to do some sort of ransom for the girls backed up in the corner, meaning they must be from a pretty rich family, not only that, but a pretty famous one at that, or they must at least have some kind of connection to the parents.

"Picking on kids, you guys are real cowards aren't you?"

The two girls backed in the walls trembled in utter terror, they held each other close as they started to cry. Subaru, Beatrice, and Satella glared at the two, but they just looked back in disgust, "You kids don't know nothing!" Subaru felt a sense of Deja Vu, where did he see this scene before, it was during his first day at Lugunica when the three stooges tried to mug him.

"I've had a run in with people like you..."

The larger one started to walk forward, his bat looked quite large, definitely larger than a normal bat. Under normal circumstances, Subaru would be at a huge disadvantage, no matter how you look at it. This man had a weapon, an advantage in reach, and most important of all, he had hostages.

"But i'm not gonna back down…!"

Subaru took a step forward but was met with an instant swing, it was almost impossible to dodge for the average human being, well, at Subaru's age anyway, so it would have been a perfect knockout, but Subaru's no average human being, not anymore. "Too slow…" It was as if time slowed down for him, he was able to dodge the swing barely by twisting his body but even that was not enough.

From below him he saw a fist approaching him, a fist that was ready to punch him right in the forehead, there was nothing he can do now, this was a sure hit. "Gah!" Using the bat as a feint, the man landed a fatal punch to Subaru's head, and he flew back. The man stomped his feet on the ground, "There's a difference between being courageous and being a fool!"

That's a cliche line, Subaru thought as he was bulleted back by the sheer force of that punch, but it wasn't enough. Subaru gripped his hands hard and clenched his teeth, using the friction from the ground, he managed to put himself to a full stop from the blow, and he stood his ground. Beatrice and Satella just looked on him, a little worried

"Man… this sucks…"

Subaru said in a pained voice, it wasn't physical pain, it was emotional for some reason. "Oi, Oi! What's with this kid, he managed to take a punch?!" The other man said, with his witty voice. The one that hit Subaru just huffed, as if acknowledging Subaru's strength. "I thought I already realized my weakness when I fought Julius, and so I lost… but… for me to lose to everyday thugs like you… unforgivable!"

 _(Pride mode Unleashed :D) -R_

Subaru looked at the two and glared with his red, bloodshot eyes, even though it was one hit, Subaru could tell that this man was levels above him, he had experience in fighting, unlike Subaru who has only had sword training. Deep down, he realized, even after gaining these powers from Satella, he was still weak deep inside.

"Ragh!"

He roared out and kicked a trash can that was beside him, causing a loud crash to resonate in the alleyway. The lid flew off and Subaru latched his arms onto it, he took aim, putting all his strength into his arms, he let loose a spinning wheel of death towards the man, who only watched in despair, he knew he was done for.

In his struggle, the man swung his bat once more, it hit the lid but it didn't budge from its trajectory, actually, it burned through the bat and literally split it in half. The man had a look of defeat in his eyes and with that, he gave up, just like that. Subaru saw that look on his eyes and he couldn't stop but whisper silently, "Pathetic…"

The man took the hit straight to the head and he was instantly knocked out cold. The lid landed down beside the other man, he took a glance at it and whimpered, the lid was red hot and was bent beyond compare. He started to shake while backing away, "B-Ba… Stay back, you monster!"

Subaru could only describe him in one word, an insect, a disgusting existence, a coward, any of the above would do. "I didn't know such people exist here… Subaru…" Beatrice said as she and Satella stood beside him, "Sorry about that Beako… but you can't hide the truth for too long… no matter where you are, guys like these will pop up…"

The three of them looked down on the man, with pure hatred, he was someone who was prepared to kill but not prepared to die, the polar opposite of the man Subaru had just taken down. "A man like you doesn't deserve to-"

"Now, now, young ones… you shouldn't mess with an adults work…"

The sudden intrusion of another voice startled all of them. Subaru looked back and there was indeed another man present, and he was definitely not a friend. With a cigar on his mouth, and shady looking glasses, one couldn't possibly mistake this man for another, he has the smell of alcohol all over him though he looked quite sober, his hair was messy, much more messy than Subaru's own and the most frightening of all, he had a gun on his hand, cocked and ready to fire.

"A mafia squad themed leader? That's not very common…" Subaru remarked as he looked towards the man, while the other one, who was trembling just a moment ago, was smiling deviously, "Boss!" He said as he scurried over to the man, quite relieved that he had entered the scene.

The other two didn't know what a gun was, but nevertheless, Subaru's expression when he saw it was all they needed to know that it was a weapon meant to kill its victims, so they were cautious, very cautious.

"Listen here boss, that kids trouble, he knocked him out in a swing!"  
"Shut yer trap hole…"

The moment he finished his sentence, his gun went off, and a bullet was planted into the other man's head. The sound reverberated in Subaru's head, is what he thinking actually happening right now? The man fell limp on the ground, blood spurting through his head. A man had just died in front of Subaru.

"No matter how strong ya are, no matter how many martial arts you can do… everyone's powerless before a gun, right?"

The man mocked Subaru as he flicked up his gun, aiming it at one of the girls in the back. The three quickly rearranged themselves, Beatrice went behind Subaru and Satella to the two girls while they stayed in the front to protect them, "Hey, you know? I heard that if I kill people in front of kids, they'll start doing things I say out of fear, hehe…"

This is bad, the three thought, unlike the other man who only tried to knock Subaru out, this man was going to kill them straight up, he knew it, he could sense the bloodlust in his eyes, something similar to Elsa's but on a lower level, still it wasn't good. "I'm not gonna waste time like those cliche moments so here ya go!"

Without a moment's notice, the man pumped out two more shots from his gun and they hurled towards Subaru. He saw the bullets coming for him, if he's fast enough he could dodge it and be out of harm's way but that isn't an option, there are people behind him, the man was trying to get two birds with one stone, but that's not going to happen. Subaru put up both his hands and defended against the bullets, they shot through both his hands and half-way through his chest, not letting it reach any of the three behind him.

"Hugh!"

He writhed in pain as blood leaked from his wound, the man could only smirk in displeasure, "Haha! You actually took the hit? Man, you're like some light novel protagonist!" He shot more rounds, and Subaru bodied most of the bullets, one flying past him and missing its mark, he continued until he had no more bullets left.

The two curled in fear could only give traumatized looks as they feared for their lives, while Beatrice and Satella felt one thing in their hearts, rage, utter and fiery rage. Once the man had finished pumping out all his bullets, Subaru fell to his knees, still alive though. "Beatrice!" Someone shouted out in anger, it wasn't Subaru, it was Satella.

After hearing that, she quickly covered the eyes of the two girls, "It'd be in your best interest to shut them, I suppose…" They obeyed and shut their eyes, holding onto Beatrice for dear life. The next moment, Satella was beside the man, their height being almost the same made it easy for her to face him, though it didn't matter, her hand was on his face anyway.

"You hurt Subaru… and killed your friend…"

She whispered into the man's ear, her eyes were an abyssal void, sucking out all the life it sees. She then slammed his head into a brick wall, a big crack, no, a crater was formed on the wall and probably on his skull as well. She let go and he slid down, the white of his eyes were all that needed to tell that he was knocked out. Beatrice didn't take another second, she grabbed the two girls and dashed out of there, in fear that there may be more of them nearby, leaving Subaru in Satella's care.

It took her a moment but she managed to snap out of her engagement and she went to Subaru's side, the intense worry was written all over her face, "Subaru! Are you alright?!" Subaru breathed out ragged breathes as his wounds slowly started to mend themselves, "Haah… good thing… he didn't shoot my head…" he fell on Satella's shoulder, immense pain covering his body, but it was okay, he was alive, that's what mattered.

.

After Subaru had recovered somewhat from the pain, the two of them proceeded to tie them up, the two that were still alive anyway, nothing can be done about the dead. Once they finished, they waited for a bit, and one of them woke up, surprisingly, he looked at the two of them, at the dead man in the front, at the supposed boss who was tied up, then he focused at Subaru, then he sighed, "Kill me…" his words entered Subaru's ears, and an unfathomable amount of rage came through.

"What… What do you mean 'Kill me'!"

He shouted out, stomping the ground. Subaru glared into his eyes, as he grabbed onto his collar, shaking, "It's my punishment… what else…" He said in a remorseful tone, something Subaru has heard before, though he can't pinpoint where exactly, that's when he punched him in the face, a really strong punch to add, "You think your death will fix anything!

He stared into the man's eyes, dead serious about what he's saying, "Paying with your death is meaningless! At least apologize dammit!" Subaru spat right at his face, trying his best to contain the rage. The man could only look at Subaru in demise, "Apologize… you think a scum like me can apologize!"

"All those people I tortured and worried, do you think I can just apologize! I used them for my own benefit because I was afraid that I might not be able to eat tomorrow, if I wasn't scammed out of my money maybe I wouldn't have fallen this low, maybe then I could have apologized and taken some other form of punishment! But now that I've dirtied my hands like this how am I supposed to apologize, you can't just forgive someone like me!"

Subaru loosened his grip on the man, hearing his voice, his voice was similar to his back then, back when he was still broken and Rem hadn't come to save him, he looked at the man's eyes, they were just like his back then, he's a hopeless wreck, just like he was back then. Subaru then let him go, and he asked.

"That man just killed his own underling, not only that but he didn't think twice before shooting a bunch of kids with his gun… with the words you were spouting out just now, why the hell would you work for a man like him?"

"I… I had no choice… I was afraid that the next morning I might be dead on the floor, starved for whatever the world cares… I didn't want to hurt all those people, I tried my best not to hurt other people, I tried okay! But every time I try, he'd only give me a fraction of what I was supposed to get, and whenever I rebelled he'd pull his gun on me! What was I supposed to do, you want me to throw my life away like that!? You just said that my death would be meaningless anyway!"

Listening to a grown man cry out all this nonsense, anybody would think of this as some sort of nuisance, but not Subaru, those words echoed in him, he understood every single word that was spat out of his mouth, the feeling of hopelessness, the feeling of despair, he was all to familiar with it, and so he sympathized with him.

Subaru recalled that when they first showed up, this man warned them to go away, not to get anyone else involved, some act to do when your hopeless, he respected that.

"Tch… you gotta give credit, where credit is due…"  
"H-Huh…?"

Subaru stepped up and spat out a bit of blood out of his mouth and down on the ground, away from the man, as to not look rude. From his pocket he took out his wallet, and threw it at the man, "That's enough for a day or two, go take a bath you wreck… find a fucking job and snap out of it would ya…" Subaru then took Satella's shoulder and the two of them walked away.

"Hey… why are you doing this…"

The man stuttered out, his face was filled with disbelief. The two stopped in their tracks and Subaru looked back at the man, "I've been in your position before, I know how much it hurts… so stop slacking your ass. When I see you again, you'd better have saved at least ten people, I'll have your head if you haven't done at least that…"

They went on, and the man fell to the ground, almost in a position to bow. He was grateful, he didn't know how, he didn't know why, but that boy helped him, and he was grateful for that. Satella glanced back at the man, and then at Subaru, and she thought, this is what Beatrice meant when she said Subaru won't see people that way.

.

"Are you two alright?"

Subaru asked the two girls, who they've rescued, and the two of them nodded accordingly. He had taken off his butler's jacket, as it has been tainted with blood and dirt. With a sigh, he asked the two, "Do any of you know your parent's number? We'll call them to pick you up, don't want anyone else picking on you guys…"

One of them did have their parents phone number and so Subaru quickly rung up their parents. He told them their location and that he and two others are waiting with them in case anything happens, and then the phone call ends. Subaru was using a public phone booth so he had to borrow a little from a passerby, which were very scarce in the area, only one person had passed by when they looked around.

So with everything settled, Subaru decided to take a quick trip to a toilet, the blood isn't exactly a good thing to show a person you just met anyway. "Ella, Beako, you two stay put, if anyone in fishy clothing comes near you guys, no matter whatever they say, tell them your waiting for a friend, I need to wash this blood off…"

And with that, he split off from everyone else. It took a while but one of their parents did come to pick them up, and they were beyond happy to see them safe. There were hugs and greetings but it suddenly turned silent when she took notice of the slightly bloodied jacket on Satella's possession, "Hey… there was a young man on the phone… he said there would be three of you so…"

"Aha, don't worry, he's gone to wash himself, it got kind of messy dealing with them all…"  
"Really, it would be pathetic if he were to fall by a single punch, I suppose…"

"Are you sure he's alright, there's a lot of blood on that shirt, do you need a trip to the hospital, I can help in you!" She urged, even if they did tell her it's alright, she wouldn't believe it unless she saw that he was fine for himself, "No, it's really okay, I'm sure he'll return any moment now…"

"I've got a long way to go if I worry people like that huh?" Subaru said as he entered into the conversation, the woman looked over to Subaru, and was relieved, she must have recognized his voice from the phone. After a little more thanking and whatnot they were able to part, much to Subaru's relief.

* * *

They had sat on a bench for awhile taking a well-deserved break before they went back on their journey to Subaru's house, though, they could have died, a well-deserved break is not really enough for something like that. "Still, I'm sure those girls must be traumatized right now, having seen a guy getting shot in the head right in front of them…"

"There was nothing we could have done, Subaru…"  
"..."

Since it's been about two months since he's been here and that he rarely ever goes out, he made a few wrong turns here and there, they ended up looking for a town map which resulted in them taking detours because they wanted to check stuff out.

"Right... my house should be at the end of this road..."

They spent about an hour walking around and they have finally reached Subaru's neighborhood. He took a good look around, it seemed like a lot of the houses have new owners, the cars were different, not that he knew much of any of them anyway. "I wonder how long they think I've been gone for..."

After walking some more, they were now in front of Subaru's old house, he wondered for a moment if his parents were even still here, maybe they moved or something, maybe they sold the house to go somewhere else, whatever happened, he has to find them.

"You ready, Subaru?"  
"Yeah, okay let's go..."

He went up first, the two behind him stayed back, for the time being, they had to let him do this alone, a reunion that had to happen. He ringed the bell, it was a nostalgic sound, he remembered it ringing whenever he was in his room, his heart was beating fast, 'Can't believe I actually found a way home' he thought.

He heard light footsteps coming from the other side of the door and a voice, "Coming!"

"Yeah... I-" Before he could say anything else he noticed something, he heard a voice, a voice that wasn't his mother's, or his father's, then that must be it, it's gone now, "..." He silenced himself.

The two behind him felt his sadness from behind and quickly understood what he thought. He heard the door being unlocked and the door handle turned, he took a deep breath as he thought of a compromise.

"Yes how ca..."

The one who opened the door was none other than the girl they met an hour ago, they both looked at each other surprised, the two behind Subaru came closer and was shocked. "The Onii-san… and Onee-chan as well! What brings you here!" she looks a little bit too cheery for a person who witnessed a cold-blooded murder.

"Ah... sorry about suddenly showing up uh..."  
"Isumi, my names Isumi," She said cheerfully.

She was shorter than Beatrice, maybe about Mimi's size, she had light brown hair and she was wearing a pretty dress, having an expression that was fitting of her age. "Isumi... what a coincidence seeing you here… yeah, I was wondering if you happen to know the people who used to live in this house before you did, it would be great if you could give us some information..."

"Of course! But... I don't really know, I'll ask my mom okay"  
"That'd be great, thank-"

"Isumi! Who's at the door?"

Before he could thank her another person's voice called out to the little girl, it was a woman's voice, it was rather familiar to Subaru but he just couldn't seem to exactly tell who it was.

"Mom! This was the Onii-san that helped me and Aiki this morning"  
"Huh! Really, let me se-"

The woman peeked her head out of the door and looked at Subaru, as they're gazes met, they both stayed silent, the woman had an expression of utter disbelief, the same goes for Subaru, they stayed like that for a few seconds before Beatrice broke the silence. "Subaru…?"

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Guess I have to rewrite the Author's notes as well huh? Well okay then, Isumi has no real importance in the story, not as of now anyway, and probably not anytime sooner. She was put upon Red's request.**


	5. Chapter 4: Home!

**Warlock of Sin. Arc 1: Prelusion**

 **Chapter 4: Home!**

She rushed outside the house, making a beeline for her neighbor's, quite a normal reaction to have when one is notified that their daughter had experienced trouble. Luckily for them, there were two young adults that helped them out, much to her relief. After reaching her neighbor's house, she picked up her daughter, her name, Isumi.

.

"Didn't I tell you never to go out unattended, never ever!"  
"Y-Yes, sorry mom..."

Isumi turns her head to the ground, quite dejectedly. She had told her countless amounts of times, during breakfast, before going to school, heck, even before going to bed, to Isumi, it just felt like the overprotectiveness of a parent, but unfortunately for her, she didn't know the reality behind their reasoning, to put simply, they were trying to prevent a tragedy from happening again.

"Do you not know how worried I'd have been had they taken you away? I've already lost my only son, I don't want to lose my only daughter now, do you understand, dear!?" The mother said while tightly embracing her daughter, the heaviness in her words was pretty obvious, and even a baby could understand the number of emotions behind them. "Yes…" she replied.

"If I see them again, I really must thank them… you did thank them, right, Isumi?"  
"Of course mom! I'm not that rude you know..."

She looks away pouting, it highlighted her cute points, which she got from her mother, other than her sanpaku eyes. Her mother sighs and looks at her tenderly, thinking that she could have lost yet another precious thing in her life, it makes her feel like a rather pathetic mother. Isumi takes a glance at her face, more accurately her eyes.

"You know, the Onii-san's eyes look just like moms... hehe, and he was really strong like dad. When he came, I thought he was just another bad guy and I was really scared..."  
"Isumi... you shouldn't judge people based on their look, you know, it's bad. But anyway, what did they look like?"

"The Onii-san wore something like those servant jackets from the cafe's, and he had cool hair like dad! It felt like I saw him before, but I can't really remember. There was also a girl with them, she had a really pretty dress on, it was super colorful, like those princess ones! Then there was this beautiful Onee-san, she had pretty white she's really scary when she was angry… she hit one of the man's head into the wall..."

"An Onii-san... eyes like mine... hair like... dad..."

She repeated those words silently, those two features, two features that were prominent for someone she cared for years ago, even though it was years ago since she last saw him, his image was burnt to the back side of her brain, she'd never, never ever forget how he looked like, for the day when he might return.

"The Onii-san's eyes were a little red too... they kinda scared me, but he was super kind!"  
"Ah, really now..."

The more she thought about it, the more it made sense, he went out of the house that night, and never came back. He most likely ran away, she was indeed a failure of a mother for that to have ever happened, he then probably had to find a job and work for money, which could explain the servants jacket, and the two people with him, were probably, "No… that'd just be too convenient to believe…"

* * *

"S-Subaru..."  
"Eh! Mom... no... how can this be happening- ugwah!"

Before he could even comprehend the situation, the woman, who Subaru exclaimed to be his mother, rushed of the steps and straight for Subaru, she rushed so fast that he didn't even have time to react. She embraced Subaru, in a tender and heart filled hug, for the people watching, it was quite the scene. Subaru could do nothing but instinctively hug his mother back, trying to keep in the swirling emotions in him.

The other three just stood there, rather shocked at the events that had turned up, Isumi was more than confused, Beatrice was quite astonished by the sudden revelation and the sight of Subaru's mother, and Satella, well she was turning red for who knows what the reason is.

"Please forgive me! I'm sorry I'm such a horrible mother!" she suddenly blurted out, and it stunned Subaru for a second, 'What is she saying?' he thought to himself, "I'm sorry… I didn't care enough, you felt neglected didn't you! I'm sorry…" What the hell was he hearing, this isn't what was supposed to happen, they didn't understand anything.

"Don't you say that… not when I've been the one causing all the trouble for you!"

He snapped back at her, maybe a tad bit too loud. He held onto his mother for dear life, and started tearing up a little, even men cry sometimes, "You can't be selfish and take all the blame for yourself… all I did was take up space, energy, money, and time from you, I was useless in the house, I was a bother outside, and I was even more of a bum inside my room… so I'm the one who's sorry!"

They released themselves from their embrace, and the woman looked at the boys face, like a mother who was reunited with a long lost child, which was, exactly what was happening actually. Everyone else was still in a shocked state, not really understanding what they were talking about just a moment ago.

Subaru started stepping back, and he was suddenly in deep thought, he put his palm in his forward, and looked over to Isumi in an analytical way. No doubt about it, she definitely resembled his mother, so theirs no mistake in it. Him suddenly looking at her though, kinda got her nervous, with his whole eye business.

He let out a big sigh and turned around, looking at the two behind him, "Subaru, what's wrong, I suppose...?" He took a deep breath and faced the two of them, in a rather eerie way.

"Hey, Ella… can I ask you a question real quick?"  
"Y-Yeah… of course…?"

She replied in a really nervous tone, his stone cold gaze told her this was something serious.

"Why… why... did we go ten years into the future!"  
"Eh?!" Beatrice and Satella said in unison.

"Didn't you hear her call her mom, last time I checked I definitely didn't have a younger sister! Why didn't you mention this when you were explaining about the authorities?! How the hell are we going to go back to Lugunica now?! Will we be like thirty years into the future then, how the hell am I gonna explain it to Emilia and the rest?!"

He said it all while grabbing her shoulders and shaking her violently, the others, besides Beatrice, just looked at them confused and, well, a little freaked out. "Uwaah! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, okay! I forgot that- urkh... forgot that if your not careful you might accidentally manipulate time as well- so please stop shaking me! I'll puke!"

"This is what you get for being careless, you damn useless witch!"

After a few more vigorous shaking, he stopped and released her, she spun around in circles, trying to cope with the dizziness, she calls Beatrice for help. "Betty... help me out please?" "No, I suppose, it's your own fault your like this..." Beatrice looks disappointedly at the silver-haired half-elf as she struggles to keep herself standing upright, Isumi rushes in to help her get up to her feet. "T-Thanks, Isumi-chan…"

Beatrice walks beside Subaru and looks at the woman in front of them.

"So that's Subaru's mother, I suppose... that's where you get your horrid eyes from..."  
"Hey, that's rude Beako... even though mom won't mind, it's still bad manners, people would think badly of you, can't have that happening..."

He said while patting her head, unable to hold the urge, Subaru was once again taken into an embrace, this time, all the air was knocked out of him by the sheer force of the hug, "Still, I can't believe your back!" she cried out. Subaru just replied with an understanding, "Yeah… sorry for worrying you all…"

After a few more touching moments, everyone seemed to have calmed down and it was time for the introductions, and first up was, "I know this is kinda sudden and all, but, nice to meet you, my little sister…" he said while reaching his hand out to her, which she nervously took hold off, "Mother always said that brother was a depressed NEET... this is not what I expected!" She said, in an overreaction, which Subaru sighed to, he glanced over to his mother who could only reply with a simple "Kuhu…"

Before Satella and Beatrice got their chance at introduction, they decided to go in and meet Subaru's father first, and so everyone went into the house, except for Satella, "Hey, aren't you coming in?" Subaru asked her as he peeks out of the doorway, "Ah… but, this is Subaru's parents… and…" Why are you acting all flustered like that? Subaru screams internally. He goes out and grabs her, forcefully pulling her in.

They all entered the living room, where they met a man, sleeping on a coach, newspapers covering his face, "Dear..." Subaru's mother called out to her husband nervously. Looking at his father, Subaru could only say "Looking at you now, I can definitely say it's been about ten or so years since I've last been here, you don't look as dashing as you used to dad..."

"Eh...? Is that Subaru I hear...?" He said in a sleepy voice, he blew the newspapers away from his face and stood up, stretching his arms while letting a yawn escape his mouth. He drowsily squinted his eyes as he looked at Subaru, with the latter getting tensed up, "So you're finally back… haaah… How was your trip to America?" Subaru was worried there for a second, but it seems his father was still half-asleep.

Subaru's mother giggled seeing this, Isumi did too, and soon Satella joined in as well, Beatrice justed huffed in annoyance. "Honey, weren't we going to… hold a welcome back party for Sub-" And at that moment, all the drowsiness left him, he jerked his head back at Subaru then back at his wife and daughter, then back at Subaru.

"SUBARU!?"

He shouted out in disbelief, it prompted everyone to close their ears in defense, though Subaru just stood there and took the brunt of it. His father rushed over to him with open arms and an over exaggerated face of relief, this was a family reunion, that's what's supposed to happen, but not in this family, no, to be exact, not between these two, for them, something else awaits them.

"Father-Son headbutt!"  
"Son-Father headbutt!"

Before they could close into an embrace, they both smacked their foreheads together in an attempt to headbutt each other and they both recoiled to the ground, with one laughing his heart off and the other scrunching his face in pain, "Damn it, for an old geezer your still surprisingly strong, what the heck?!"

The others watched in shock, except for Subaru's mother, this isn't something you see very often. Isumi was most shocked and rushed over to her father's side to help him up but. "You think it's over!" He leaped up and tried to go for an armlock, they both ended up falling down hard on the floor, locking each other's limbs.

"Well… this isn't as bad as I thought, you're getting a bit rusty with your movements, dad"  
"Who's fault do you think that was, I had no one to practice my moves on!"

He let out another hearty laugh, Subaru just chuckled along with him, he then proceeded to grind Subaru's head his knuckles playfully, "Hah, I knew you'd come back, this son of mine would never abandon his family!"

"Like father, like son, I suppose..."  
"They look so alike too..."

Satella and Beatrice stood in the entrance of the living room while they watched on the families happy reunion.

After a bit more pleasantries, everyone straightened themselves up and, "Care to explain why you've been gone for almost eleven years?" He asked in a rather serious tone. Subaru's mother also looked quite serious, all the while Isumi strayed back, not really understanding the sudden tenseness in the air.

"Right then, guess I'll explain myself... first of all, your gonna have to keep an open mind about this, what I've been through is gonna be kinda... crazy I guess" They all stayed silent, until his father replied with, "Alright, we're all ears…"

"I was kidnapped... and… taken to another world..."  
"..."

They all stayed quiet, Subaru, Satella, and Beatrice were awaiting their reactions, the two adults were staring at him rather skeptically, while Isumi was highly on edge, mostly on the fact that he was kidnapped, and it didn't seem she heard the latter part, but she was still slightly confused.

His father was the first to make a move, "Yeah you're definitely drugged..." he blurted out while facepalming himself, shaking his head in disappointment while he's at it. His mother also looked down, in a rather remorseful manner.

"Wait, no I'm not drugged!"

"And it stopped your growth for eleven years, explains why you look so young..."  
"Hey, you're calling me short!?"

"And that would explain this 'another world', you've gone completely crazy..."  
"What kind of drug does that!?"

"Hkk... I'm just glad you're safe"  
"Hey, hey! Listen to me for a second!"

After shedding his manly tears, he gave Subaru another hug and wouldn't let Subaru go, despite him trying to force himself out.

"Once I find the bastard that did this-"

"No, no, no! That's as far as we're taking this!" Subaru said in a rather alarming voice, managing to stop his father's rambles and drag everyone's attention towards Subaru, his face looked displeased. "What kind of son do you take me for? Just because I stayed in my room all day doesn't mean I', depressed or anything! Anyway... what I'm saying is all true, even if you don't believe me..."

"You have no proof of this 'other world' Subaru, besides, my theory is much more plausible you see!"  
"I don't think drugs have advanced enough to give people immortality dad..."  
"Oh wait, that might be right… but you still have no proof so this shall be a neutral argument"

Subaru raises his hands up, everyone looks at it, "Is he going to use magic, I suppose?" Beatrice whispers over to Satella, and she replies back in a whisper, "Probably… it's the biggest proof he can give them…" They watched his hands slowly lean backwards until it landed on the two whispering in the background

"Those two..."

"What, I suppose?!"  
"Eh!?"

The two standing in the entrance of the room was suddenly given the spotlight, faced with all the attention they couldn't help but question Subaru's action, but they realized what he was getting at.

"Ah, ah... yeah, that's right, I guess we are from the other world..."  
"Betty admits to this too, I suppose..."

They said nervously.

"Put more strength behind those confessions, no one's going to believe you if you're going to do it like that…."  
"You think getting two girls we don't know to say that just so that we would believe your delusions is going to work Subaru?"

"Hey it's true, I'm not from here!"  
"That's right, I suppose!"

Suddenly, they got more serious, if they started it off like this, they might have just believed them but... "Look girls, I don't know what my son did to you, or what you owe him, but you really should just stop, it's not gonna work..."

"Hmmm, he's just as stubborn as you Betty..."  
"Hey, don't compare me to him, I suppose!"

"If You're really from another world, what is the proof?"

"Obviously, how can someone this beautiful be from somewhere around here?"  
"Betty's cuteness is at a level that it is impossible to not think of it as other worldly, I suppose!"

"Hey, now you're just indirectly insulting my world… stop being so narcissistic" Subaru retorted out in frustration, "H-Hey we tried!" Satella replied back in a desperate

"Okay, look kids, we don't have time for these Chuuni shenanigans, so I'll drive you two home and we can get over with this real quick, what do you say? I'll buy you guys a treat while we're at it…"

"Dad, just… please don't say that last part..."

Suddenly, a deadly aura exploded from Beatrice, everyone felt it. It was so deadly that it felt like the whole house was shaking, they were expecting some kind of childish act like "If you don't take that back, I'll fry you into a million pieces" or that she'd straight up cry. Subaru and Satella, on the other hand, watched in terror as they saw Beatrice glare at his father.

"You... you dare belittle Betty, I suppose!?"

An ear-shattering scream filled the room, it was Beatrice's rage. She tried to pounce on him but Satella grabbed her before she left the ground. "I am The Great Spirit Beatrice, for four hundred years I have protected the forbidden archive, I have gathered knowledge for that long, yet you dare call it this all shenanigans! I'll blast you! I'll blast you to smithereens I suppose!"

Before she went any further, Subaru stuck his mouth on her lips. "Shh shh, it's all right Beako... any more and you would've actually been blasted off dad…" His father was hidden behind his mother, replying with, "Uh-huh… you've met some strange people, Subaru…"

"Anyway, I guess there's only one way to actually prove that we were in another world..."  
"Well then do it already, I'm getting fed up with this!"  
"Okay then, prepare yourselves..."

This time they didn't do anything, they just stayed in position, thinking that he was going to say some more nonsense. Subaru took a deep breath and spread his arms apart, it seemed like he was going for a hug but that wasn't his intention. He pointed at them using his right hand and with a snap, he chanted out.

"SHAMAK!"

He chanted, suddenly black smoke shrouded not only his body but his parents as well, "Do you believe me now?" he said while the spell was still in effect, he left it on for a few seconds until it all disappeared.

"So?"

He asked them as they started gaining their senses back, they were completely and utterly shocked, what happened? They couldn't see or feel anything for a few seconds, was that real or something? While the two was silently panicking on the inside, Isumi just watched awestruck at what had just happened. She was a big fan of magic, not that it exist in her world or anything. She would watch shows or read manga where it was present, even pretend that she had her own.

"Hey? You guys okay there?"

He tried waving his hands in front of them, they snapped out of their trance, and took a big step back, they fell onto another couch, the life was basically sucked out of their eyes, "W-Wha, was..." "Who... a..."

Just like that, they had fainted out of pure shock.

"Serves them right, I suppose!"  
"Didn't think they'd faint that easily though…"

"They did deny it all this time so obviously they'd be shocked if it was all true, which it was..."

Satella said with a victorious smile on her face while the two came up to Subaru. They all looked over to Isumi who was staring at the three not with fear but in amazement. "Brother is so cool…!" She gave a different reaction than the other two, it surprised the three but it wasn't at all bad.

"Well… now that they're out of it, we can make ourselves at home..."

"Waah, Brother! Can you teach me that trick? I want to do something like too, please teach me, please teach me, please, please, please!" She acted like someone of her age so they were not annoyed by it. But the fact that she's been accepting of all the strange things that are happening, there's no doubt about this, his sister, is an exact replica of her mother/

"That was real magic, little sister of mine, anyway, I gotta introduce you to them..." he said while pointing to the other two who had their introductions postponed. They greeted her with a wave and started.

"Betty is The Great Spirit Beatrice, I am bound to your brother by a contract, I have studied the arts of Yin magic for long enough to be called the master of it. What you just saw was but a simple spell, I suppose"

"Hi! I'm Satella but you can call me Ella Nee-chan, I'm a half-elf as you can see..." She removes her cat-eared beanie, revealing her elven ears, "Actually wait, I think I'm part spirit too… uuh, all this race stuff is confusing..." Disregarding Satella's confusion, Subaru spoke out, "She's my captor, she was the one who kidnapped me and brought me to another world..."

"Waaah, I'm friends with a spirit and an elf! I have to tell Aiki!"

"No, you really shouldn't do that… I mean, I doubt anyone would really believe you, but if they do, they might track and hunt them down for research purposes, and that's a bad thing for them so it'd be better if we kept this just between us..."

"Ah, like a siblings-only-secret! Eeeh, I've always wanted to make one of those!" She said in a rather high pitched squeal, but she then turned over to Beatrice, "Um, Beako-chan, what is a 'contract'?"

"Hey who gave you permission to call me that, I suppose?!"

"Well, a contract means... it's like a sacred promise people make when dealing with big things, in our case... well you can say it's like I've to treat her as if she was part of my own family, so it's like I adopted her into the family or something like that, I'm not too knowledgeable about contracts and such..."

" _Gasp_ So Beako-chan is like my little sister?!"

"Well… little sister is a bit much, more like a cousin?"

She jumps over to Beatrice and shakes her hand, hugs her and plays with her drills, Beatrice squealed in annoyance as she hopped around her. "Hey, only Subaru can touch Betty's divine hair, I suppose!" The other two watched as they childishly chased each other around, Subaru couldn't help but laugh, soon Satella joined to, then Isumi, Beatrice just panted while shouting at them angrily.

'So, I'm finally home…' The thought passed through his head.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **A more realistic family reunion I hope...**


	6. Chapter 5: Greetings to the Warlock

**Warlock of Sin. Arc 1: Prelusion**

 **Chapter 5: Greetings to the Warlock**

"Minya"

Beatrice chanted and a light purple bolt formed in front of Isumi, she squealed excitedly as she examined the stake, it was shiny, hard and at the same time light. It looked very much like an amethyst crystal shining in broad daylight, a beautiful sight to the faint of hearts. "Waah, Beako-chan, that's amazing!"

"Of course it's amazing, Betty made it, and don't call me Beako-chan, I suppose!"

"Hey, hey, brother" She leaned over and whispered to Subaru, "Does Beako-chan, not like that name? You call her that and she doesn't seem to mind..."

"Don't worry, though it may seem like she doesn't like it, she secretly cherishes it, that's how she used to act when I first called her Beako, and now, it's the only thing she'll allow me to call her, hehe"

"Really? So she's a tsundere then?"

"You got it!"

Their secretive bickering annoyed Beatrice but she couldn't care less, she and Satella were distracted by the television, they were showing some random fantasy Anime, where the characters were currently battling, using magic. It confused Satella and Beatrice quite a bit.

"Subaru..."

"Televisions are able to replay past events by recording them into a memory keeping stone, they read the information and project them on a plane, you can't interact with them so you can only watch. Your watching something called 'Anime', it's like a play but they drew it frame by frame, then switch the frames fast enough that it looks like a moving image, it takes many months to make but it looks cool doesn't it"

He translated the basics of a TV to magic logic, which Beatrice understood very easily, though bit while Satella was barely able to catch up.

"You know what, some things are better when you don't understand them, that's what I always say..."  
"I've never heard you say that, Ella..."

.

"When do you suppose your parents will wake up, Subaru?"

"They'll probably wake up if we give them some mayonnaise... oh that reminds me, Isumi, do you like Mayo?"

"Of course I do, does brother like it too?"

Striking a dramatic pose he says, "Huhu, your big brother hasn't been dubbed, 'The Mayonnaise Menace' by his friends for no reason, and I'm part of the Natsuki family so there's no doubt I'd love mayonnaise!"

"Does Ella Nee-chan and Beako-chan like Mayonnaise?"  
"I've never tried mayonnaise before so I can't say yet... but Betty sure does love it"

Suddenly their stomachs growled out ferociously, "Hehe... we haven't eaten anything since this morning..." Satella said, embarrassed, "Isumi-chan, I'm going make something to eat! Please bring me to the kitchen!"

"Yes, Ella Nee-chan!"

"Do you even know how to cook, Ella?"  
"Of course I do, my cooking has been evaluated by Witch of Gluttony as being one of the better ones she's eaten"  
"Coming from someone who eats wooden tables and metal chains, I think her standards are pretty low, don't you think..."

She gave a sad, dejected look over to Isumi, "But… I just wanted to try and make food for you once..." "Ella Nee-chan, you musn't give up so easily, as a once famous writer said once, 'If you give up, you'll definitely lose!' or something like that, so let's go!" She dragged Satella over to the kitchen and did the things you would normally do in the kitchen, Subaru went over and decided to talk to Beatrice.

"Watcha looking at Beako?"  
"Hmm"

Subaru sat beside Beatrice as they continued watching the television.

.

"You're really good at cutting vegetables, Ella Nee-chan!"

"Ahh, no one has called me that since... a long time ago. I like cooking a lot, I'd share the food I prepared with my friends whenever we went to hang out, those were the days..." She continued cutting the vegetables expertly while reminiscing about the past.

"Really? Who taught you how to cook?"

"Oh... that would be someone named... Conrad... yeah, he was a really good friend of mine back then... actually, he taught me most of the stuff I know, if I recall..." Satella's voice brightened up near the end, talking about the past wasn't something she was willing to do. Isumi then asked her, "Where is he now?"

"He's..." She stopped and thought about what she was going to say, she can't just straight up say, 'He's dead' to Isumi, that would be out of the question, instead, "You see, we elves live for a very long time, almost a thousand years, though I'm half so I don't get to live as long, hehe... now Conrad... he was a human... soo..."

"I see... it must be lonely, seeing your friends go, one by one..."

"..."

There was awkward silence for a moment, they continued doing their own thing until Subaru came in the kitchen, releasing the tense atmosphere for the two. He went over to the fridge and opened it, he was looking for something but sadly, he did not find it. "What are you looking for, brother?"

"Huh? I'm just seeing if my bottle of mayo's still here, it seems it's not... tch, well, looks like I'll have to make a run down the store to buy myself one... hey Isumi, mind if Beako borrows some of your clothes? She can't go out wearing flashy dresses like that"

"Of course, they're upstairs in my room" She answered, "Right thanks!" Subaru replied back hastily as he goes up the stairs, bringing Beatrice along with him. Before he left though, Satella teased him a bit "Subaru, don't go disappearing again!" she let out a light chuckle, "Who's fault was it the first time, I wonder..." He replied sarcastically.

.

"Huh... this seems to be the smallest one... but the sleeves are still a bit long..."  
"Why do I have to wear her clothes, I suppose?! Do you not feel satisfied with what I am wearing right now?"

"Don't use satisfied... flashy clothes aren't common here Beako, so you have to rock some normal ones"  
"But Betty is a great spirit, wearing clothes of a peasant is disgrace… full..."

She stopped midway when she saw a tracksuit, slightly different from Subaru's, it was magenta with black sidelines, and it seemed just about her size. Subaru caught her line of sight and traced to the tracksuit and sighed. "You want to wear this..." he said while picking up, he couldn't help but shake his head in her obvious reasoning.

She didn't say anything but replied with a nod, not looking away from it.

"Fine... here" He tossed it over to her and it landed on her face, she peeled it off and admired it, Subaru also gave her some trousers and a gray T-shirt. He then stayed there for a while, seemingly in deep thought, "What's wrong, I suppose?"

"I don't know… it feels weird being in Isumi's room, I know she's my sister and all, but she is technically still a girl I met a few hours ago, so isn't there like a universal basis on when you're allowed to enter a girls room?"

"Betty senses dirty thoughts within Subaru's mind… please erase them at once, I suppose…"

He then left the room to let her change.

Surprisingly, Isumi's room wasn't Subaru's room, he had originally thought that they would replace his room with her's but it looks like they didn't. He opened the door to his room and an all too familiar smell entered his nose.

It wasn't the exact same, there were some things moved and some things were missing, most notably, the shelf that used to be beside the door was gone and his lamp was also gone, the closet seemed to have been moved to the other edge of the room, everything else, seemed in place. "I wonder if..." He went over to his bed and went under it, he pulled out a box, a very dusty one and opened it, "Yep, my secret money stash is still here and... I'm gonna have to get rid of these..."

Inside the box was a decent amount of coins and notes, and there were also magazines, the kind that you would hide from your parents at all costs, he was glad they weren't found yet. "Right then..." In an instant, all of them were torn to shreds, it almost looked like powder, the many pieces fell back into the box and he slid it back down his bed.

He got up and decided to find something else to wear, he opened his closet and found it clean and sorted, there was not much he could choose from, he normally just wore his tracksuit most of the time, but something else caught his eye, an orange hoodie, with black accents caught his eyes, he remembers that it was something he was given to as a birthday present "It'd be rude if I never wore it... eh, what the heck, I'll wear it now"

He took it out and replaced his butler's jacket with it, it fits him perfectly and it was rather nice and warm, not to mention it matches his usual color scheme. He closed the closet and went out, making sure to take the ripped magazines out to the trash. As he exited the room he sees Beatrice walking towards him, her arms spread out, marveling at the clothes she just received.

"Why do you look so happy?"

They were at Subaru's house for about an hour so it was most likely around seven or eight, there seemed to be more people outside and it was still cold. They had traveled by foot for about fifteen minutes to the nearest grocery store. They walked up to the door and it slid open, it caught Beatrice off guard, "Magical doors, I suppose?!"

"No... see there" He pointed on a sensor on top of the glass door frame, "Let's say that Metia can sense your presence when it does it opens the doors using a bunch of... I'm not sure what it uses actually, sliders or something, it pulls the glass from both sides, opening a path for us to go basically..."

Entering the grocery store, the air-conditioned room blew a gust of wind at them, Beatrice stared around, it looked just like a market, not that she's been to any. There were lights on the ceiling, they were all bright white, she couldn't sense any magic being used so she asked Subaru, "How do those lamps work, I suppose?"

"The lights... well we use electricity to power them, electricity is like... imagine you take lightning and store it, it becomes a kind of power source"  
"You can capture lightning, I suppose?!"  
"Yeah, we could, but it's too dangerous so we use other methods, like solar powering, motion dynamos and generators-"

Seeing that Beatrice was lost in what he said, he decided to explain it a little later. They went to the food dressing aisle and there many types of food dressings, some vinegar, cheese, sauce of all kinds, and in the last aisle, mayonnaise.

"Ahh, there you are" He took about seven bottles.

"Isn't that a bit too much, considering we're only staying here for one week, I suppose?"

"Not at all, you were able to finish half of the whole stock in two days" Seeing that this was true, Beatrice could say nothing, she just stood there flustered, "I'm the mayo addict here and there you go eating ten times the amount I do… and besides, we've got dad and mom on the table too, and who knows how much Isumi takes in..."

It wasn't that she liked mayo better than him, she just wanted to try best him on it, "So I'm gonna buy a lot and then we won't run out, besides you never know if Ella might get addicted as well, any left over, we'll just bring it with us or give them to dad, he'll finish them in a flash"

He went over to the counter and paid for them and they left.

Back in the Natsuki household, Isumi and Satella had finished their cooking session together and were getting ready to set up the tables. Coincidentally, the smell of their creation drifted out into the living room, and made it's way to the two unconscious adults asleep on the couch.

"Mgh..."

Smelling the thick and sweet scent of Mayonnaise, Naoko woke up, she looked around and saw that there was no one there, "So... it was all just-" Before she finished her sentence, Satella walked into the living room, she was wearing an apron over her black and purple dress, holding onto a bottle of mayonnaise that had an I labeled on it.

"Oh, Naoko-san, your awake! Me and Isumi are finished preparing breakfast, come and join us okay" She said with a sweet smile.

She couldn't utter a word and just nodded expressionlessly, "It wasn't a dream..." she muttered.

She looked over beside her and saw that her husband was still unconscious from the shock, she was going to wake her up but then the door opened and in entered Subaru and Beatrice holding two bags filled with Mayonnaise.

"We're back, and we got the mayonnaise!"

"Ahh, your back, aww Betty looks so cute wearing a tracksuit!"

"Be quiet, I suppose!"

"Oh, mom's awake... okay then... you probably still need a clearer explanation... well that can wait for later, I'm starving right now..." He laughed it off and went with Beatrice and Satella to the dining room as Naoko stared at them in still not believing what had just happened.

.

Everyone was at the table, Subaru sat next to Beatrice, Satella beside Isumi, and Naoko with Keinichi at the other end of the table.

"So..." Keinichi said, "This... other world you were talking about...?"

"Oh right, yeah, you see, that night, I went over to the convenience store to buy some noodles, after I left the shop, I blinked a few times then I was suddenly in a medieval marketplace" Keinichi shook his head, "That doesn't clarify anything, you just blinked and you were in another world?!"

"Well, to be more exact I brought him over," Satella said while raising her hand up politely, "And may I ask why such a pretty lady would want for, my unenthusiastic son?"

"Well, it's a long story... you see, four hundred years ago, I had a friend that died, wanting him to come back, I tried to place his soul into another body, but it went over dimensions and ended up in this world and then- Owch"

Subaru pinched her cheeks until they were red, "Just tell them something more short and brief please..."

"But- Ow Ow Ouch! Okay, okay!" He let her cheeks go, she rubbed them, small tears formed in the corner of her eyes, "I was under the influence of a certain witch gene… I'm not sure how to explain what a witch gene is, but it's like something that gives you powers basically, and I kinda went crazy, stuff happened and Subaru got dragged into the mess accidentally, I'm really sorry I caused you ll inconvenience..."

"Okay that explains the other world, but..." He looks at Subaru, his appearance hasn't changed since the day he left, and that's the next question, "Why hasn't he aged like he supposed to do, did he use some kind of immortality spell or something?" He asks seriously.

"Oh no, in actuality, he's only been there for about two whole months, the reason why he's like this and you're like that is because he was inexperienced when creating a portal here and unintentionally tampered with time"

"I see, so his ignorance had gotten the better of him..." He looks down disappointedly. "Hey! It's her fault for not telling me that that was a possibility!"

"Subaru, you can't blame a lady for your ignorance, I've taught you better than that..." Subaru clicked his tongue and looked away, "So, I guess it's time for introductions?" Keinichi said.

As soon as he said that, she stood up and with her arms spread, "My name's Satella, but you can refer to me as Ella, I'm a half-elf spirit that is currently soul bound… no, indebted would be a better word, indebted to Natsuki Subaru because he had freed me from my seal, nice to meet you!"

She sat down and then Beatrice stood, "Betty is the Great Spirit Beatrice, I am more than four hundred years old and am contracted with Natsuki Subaru, nice... to be acquainted with you..."

She finished it with a glare towards Keinichi, Isumi stood up next and introduced herself to the three, "My name's Natsuki Isumi, I'm ten years old and I am a full human"

"Natsuki Naoko..."

"Natsuki Keinichi..."

And finally, "Natsuki Subaru, Ex Shut-in NEET, now a fully fledged knight to a candidate running for the forty-second king of Lugunica"

"Pffft, knight? Yeah right"

"It's true dad, your son isn't a lousy shut in anymore, I got some sword practice and have a knight uniform and everything, I shall make Emilia-tan the ruler, and nothing you say will discourage me!" He said with a proud and smug look.

"Haah looks like you've actually grown up to be something, argh! But I wasn't there to take a picture..." He said frustratedly. Isumi was just staring at the three in amazement, Naoko couldn't really care less about what was happening, all that mattered was that her son was back.

.

"So since you're a knight and all... I guess you won't be staying?" Keinichi asked Subaru as he picked up all the empty plates. Subaru replied with, "Right conclusion, wrong reasoning" as he helped his father out.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He asked confused, "Although your right that I can't stay, the reason isn't that it'll interfere with my knight work or anything, I'm pretty sure Emilia-tan would let me visit, heck, she might even force me to visit you guys at least twice a week or something…"

"Well, looks like you're supporting a good person… I'm happy about that, but what's the real reason than"  
"You know how Ella talked about this witch gene?"  
"Yeah, what about it?"

"It works like this, it's a sort of parasite that chooses its host depending on whether they are compatible or not. iI they are, it goes off without a hitch, but if they're not compatible… things like what happened to Ella could occur. As far as I could remember her telling me, she was forced to take in the witch genes, they were so incompatible that the witch genes literally made a split personality, it's been the dubbed the Jealous witch by the world… it drove her crazy and she kinda destroyed half the world because of that…"

"Okay… I think I get it so far. Wait, more importantly, since Ella is here all sane, then that means this 'Jealous witch' should no longer exist right? The split personality should be gone now… is that right?"

"Nope, that's where you're wrong dad… I only managed to release her from the witch genes influence, it still exists, and now without Ella holding it back, it's going to get more and more ferocious, and it would probably break through its seal, once that happens it, the whole world will get destroyed once again like what happened a few hundred years ago…"

"I understand… but why are you caught up in all this?"

"You see, there's a price to pay when you want to unseal a witch… and the price for me is that I had to absorb the witch genes she had in her, in simple terms, I'm indirectly hosting her split personality…" The sudden revelation came as quite a shock, it would be for anyone, "So… as any parasite would, when their host goes too far away…"

"They will follow… so that means…"

"Yes, if I stay here for too long, the Jealous witch would most likely cross worlds, and most likely destroy this world, maybe even conquer the universe while it's at it. Basically, I'm a walking time bomb unless I'm the other world, the sad truth it is…"

"Is there… any way we can help?"

"Yeah, there's one way you can help in particular… don't tell this to mom and Isumi, and keep up that happy go lucky personality of yours, wouldn't want everyone worrying if I don't return…" It's the sad truth, but the truth is the truth, he can't change it, "Man, I have a really depressing son now don't I!" Keinichi said while giving his son a headlock, their usual antics, start again.

* * *

The rest of the day was filled with discussions about this other world Subaru was taken too. He talked about all the races he's seen, all the types of transports, Ground dragons, Riger's, and many others. He then talked about how he met Emilia and came into contact with Roswaal, how after a good struggle he managed to land a spot as her knight.

When the topic switched over to magic, Isumi got pretty excited. Beatrice demonstrated it to them, and even went far as to explain the in-depth details on how they worked, caught within the flow of things, Isumi asked if she was able to use magic, which the three were reluctant to answer. She was indeed able to use magic, but the sheer amount of mana in the atmosphere is too dangerous for her to use safely, so they postponed it.

After all that, Subaru decided to teach both Beatrice and Satella about the Japanese language, it wasn't hard, the pronunciations were pretty much the same, all that needs to be worked on are some universal variations of the words and learning to read and write.

.

Finally, it was night time and they were deciding on where they should all sleep, now with three more people.

"So, Isumi can sleep with Subaru tonight... Beatrice should sleep with Ella in Isumi's ro-"

"Absolutely not, I suppose!" She said rather loudly, it caught everyone's attention, "I refuse to sleep with her" she pointed towards Satella, making her quite sad. "Aww, but we sleep together all the time!"

"You were in your crystal the whole time so that's different, Betty will sleep with Subaru so you sleep with Isumi, I suppose!" After hearing her say that the other three gave skeptical looks towards Subaru, "Huh... why are you guys looking at me like that? Wait... hey, I'm not going to do anything to her, alright!"

"Hmmm... I guess it's better than letting him sleep with Ella, he's still a virgin so he probably won't be able to control himself"

"Cut it out, dad! I wouldn't dream of it!"  
"Heh, whatever you say, son, try not to make a move on Beatrice while your sleeping, okay"  
"Wh-... No, just leave it Subaru... he's not going to change his mind anyway..." he muttered to himself.

.

Subaru and Beatrice went to bed, his bed wasn't as big as it was in the mansion but it was just enough to fit the two of them perfectly. Beatrice had changed into pajamas that she borrowed from Isumi, though they were a tad bit large, she didn't mind too much.

"You are a splitting image of your parents, I suppose"  
"With these eyes and my identical hair, it'd be impossible not to say that I'm their son..."  
"Will you tell them, I suppose?"

"Tell them what?"  
"You being a warlock, about Return by Death and such, I suppose..."

He thought for a while, "Maybe I'd tell them about the warlock bit... but definitely not Return by Death... I think it would be too much for them, they'd cry for days and maybe even have a little grudge over Ella... I just want everyone to get along so I'll avoid that..."

"That's a good idea, I suppose…"  
"Night..."

They drifted off to sleep, knowing that the next day will be filled with nothing but excitement and joy, they hoped at least.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Just a few paragraph rephrasing and a tiny bit more Subaru and Daddy conversations**


	7. Chapter 6: My Other World

**Warlock of Sin. Arc 1: Prelusion**

 **Chapter 6: My Other World**

Waking up to the familiar sensation of a little girl clinging to his right arm, Subaru yawned, rather loudly. It had been some time since he's slept in a properly air-conditioned room, and it felt great. He sprung out of his bed, taking a deep breath, and keeping it in, "Man, being back home feels good…" He said as he stretched his arms out.

"Mgh… silly Subaru…" Beatrice mumbles in her sleep, grabbing the pillow on her head into her arms. Subaru couldn't keep his aching heart from, well, aching, "Please... I'll die of cuteness if you keep going..."

Changing out of his pajamas and into new, comfortable clothes, he left his room, quietly, as to not wake the sleeping spirit. He looked past the hallway, not really sure what to do, usually, back in the mansion, he'd go take a bath first, then meet up with Ram and Rem for the days work, but now, he doesn't really have to do that, he doesn't exactly work here.

Subaru started walking down the hallway but stopped when he heard a click. He then walked backward slowly, and stopped in front of his little sister's room, he then heard another click, two to be exact, "Don't tell me she's… no, it's most definitely _her_ …" That very sound, it was nostalgic, but at the same time not, he slowly opened the door and peeked in.

"You can't be… could you?"

He could see a futon spread out on the floor, and someone was sleeping in it, definitely. He slowly walked into the room, the sound of tapping now entered his ears, he knew exactly what this person was doing. Looking to his left, he saw a silver-haired beauty, in pajamas, in front of a brightly lit screen, "Haah… why am I not surprised… Oi, how long have you been there?"

The silver-haired girl paid no heed to Subaru, she just kept on staring at the screen, mumbling out things and occasionally letting out an "Ahh…" Seeing that the girl hadn't noticed him, he went closer and grabbed her shoulder, shaking it a little bit. She turned her head to him slowly, "Oi, Ella! How long hav- Gua!"

"Oh... Shubaru~ this… haaah, 'Computer' thing is... g-great..."

Her eyes were heavy, her voice was whispery and dry, she was tired, beyond tired, he could tell at least that much, "Hey, you shouldn't stay up all night er... watching... no, reading stuff? Wait what were you doing? Ahh, it doesn't matter. Using a brightly lit computer in a dark room, is really bad for your eyes you know..."

Subaru leans over to the monitor, switching it off while prying her hands away from the keyboard,"Nooo... Shubaruuun, I wanted to read some… more..." Too tired to say anything else, she collapses onto Subaru. "H-Hey, don't sleep on me! Gh..." She then proceeds to wrap her arms around his waist, nuzzling up his chest, and while putting up a mischievous grin, she teases "But it's nice to know that Subaru cares for me…"

Suddenly turning red, Subaru freaks out as he tries to shove her off, to no avail, "Y-You! Get off me!" It'd be a normal reaction, seeing that she's a fully grown woman, clinging onto Subaru, a fully grown man. Satella giggles playfully as she latches on, now putting on a threat, "If your too loud… Isumi-chan will wake up you know…" A devious smile was plastered on her face as she dives back into Subaru's chest, making them both fall to the ground, laying down.

Sneaking a glance at his sister, Subaru could see that she was indeed going to wake up, had they continued on their struggles, 'She really is a wicked witch' Subaru thought to himself. This situation, it's a classic anime/manga situation where the abusive heroine blackmails the protagonist into doing what she wants, something Subaru, must never let happen. "Come on Subaru… just pretend it's Emilia hugging you, it's fine then right? Hehe..."

He felt himself getting more flustered. Though he really wished he could've just imagined Emilia being the one that's hugging, something as absurd as that wouldn't be possible, she's not bold enough, and would probably never be bold enough to hug him like this. Hearing his internal struggles, Satella giggles even more, while enjoying their early morning skinship.

"I'm cunning too you know!"

He shouted in a whispery voice, probably not the best idea when there's someone sleeping right beside you. Touching the ground, a rift appeared right under them, and they both fell, plummeting into what felt like a grassy lawn, with Satella falling right above his stomach, "AGH!" that's gotta hurt.

"Ouch… where ar- Kyaaa!"

Satella let out a loud screech, loud enough that Subaru had plugged his ears as he got back up, "S-Subaru! Why did you bring me outside, I… I'm still wearing these oversized pajamas, you idiot!" She stuttered out in embarrassment while hiding behind Subaru, in case there were people walking around, "What's wrong about oversized pa-" He took a glimpse back and indeed, wearing what she wore in broad daylight would most definitely be embarrassing. He hadn't noticed it before but her pajamas were, extremely oversized, the sleeves could easily just slip out with a simple breeze.

"Hmm… maybe I should have thought twice about this…"  
"Y-You think!? Just bring me back!"

"Quiet, someone may actually come out cause of your loud voice…" He stood up, so did Satella, still hiding behind him for cover, another rift appearing behind them. Without facing it, he walks through, not really wanting to be seduced by the loosely dressed, Emilia look-a-like behind him. "We're back inside now, you can calm down…"

Satella lets go of him, and sunk down to the wooden flooring, sniffing her nose, "Subaru's a meanie… witches have their dignity too you know!?" she said, teary-eyed, to Subaru. He taps his feet on the ground while sighing, he says, "Even though you were rubbing your face up my chest just a minute ago?"

"Dummy… If it's Subaru… its a little different…" She blushed, and she blushed hard, her face was lit up in a scarlet hue, Subaru couldn't help it, his heart skipped a beat, then another, 'Wait why is my heart skipping beats over her!?' He screams to himself, internally, coughing away his flustered heart, he turns around, and heads to the kitchen, "Stop it with that already…"

* * *

"Meanie… stupid meanie…"

Satella mumbles, as she held her head on the table, her face still red from the initial shock and embarrassment, "Enough of that already, I said sorry didn't I?" Subaru said as he turned back, looking at her all down didn't really made him feel comfortable, mostly cause she's a splitting image of Emilia, but also cause it was partly his fault.

"Bakasu…"  
"Cheer up already…"

He says while placing a mug in front of her, a mug filled with coffee. "Since you won't sleep, that'll help shake your brain up…" He tells her while sipping some from his own. He leaned on the kitchen counter, swirling the coffee in his mug, reminded him of that one time he taught Rem and Ram how to do latte, fun times.

"..."

Satella takes in a bit of her coffee, her face still visually displeased at Subaru. Suddenly, Beatrice walks into the kitchen, "Oh, morning Beako" Subaru greets her, she just looks at the two rather skeptically. She was about to ask, but instead said, "It'd be better if Betty didn't, I suppose…" she then walks over to the refrigerator, opening the door, all the cold air escaping out.

She takes out what could only be a juice box, Subaru looks at it, and asks, "If I recall… isn't that my sister's stash? You sure it's okay to take that Beako…" She replies with a sigh, "Betty has made a contract with her, in exchange for showing her magic, I get a share of it, I suppose…"

"Was a contract really necessary?!"  
"No, but she insisted, I suppose…"

.

They sat down on the couch, and with Satella having calmed down a little, they helped themselves to some television. Subaru wasn't a fan of the television, he'd mostly play games or read manga from the store, occasionally watching an anime on his computer, but never has he found a solid interest in television, still, that's not to say it was completely out of his interest.

He flicked through all the channels, none of them really grabbing his attention, news channels weren't exactly something people of his age enjoy watching. They kept on switching channels until they heard footsteps coming down the stairs, "Good morn... S-Subaru!?" A voice exclaimed as they reached the bottom, Subaru and the rest tilt their heads and they saw Naoko, astonished and all.

"Don't tell me you've developed amnesia mom?"  
"U-Oh... ahh, I remember now... though it's still so hard! I can't believe my baby's back!"

She rushes over and hugs her son, in a very tender embrace, but at the same time, bone shattering, "Not too hard please..." Subaru pleads while trying to ease his mother's hold of him, "The mother is even more unbearable than the son, I suppose…" Beatrice coldly remarks as she scoots away from the two.

"Aww, Subaru, haven't you taught her to be nicer? She won't make any friends if she's this cold" Nako says as she releases her son, "You think I never tried? She's as stubborn as the old man himself" "Heh? But you're so cute as well, oh look, your hairs all messed up" She said while she ruffles her hair, all the while bringing her into a hug, Subaru getting caught in it too. "T-Too close, I suppose!"

After their little touching moment, Beatrice leaves to fix her hair up, while Naoko joins the other two in their endless search for an interesting channel. She takes notice of Satella, who had been sulking this whole time, "Ah, Ella, is something the matter…" Not really wanting to be bothered right now, she just pouts.

Naoko glances over to Subaru and sees that he averted his gaze away, quickly understanding that there has been some sort of quarrel. Being the kind mother she is, she decides to dissipate the distance the two have created between themselves, and she did it in a very literal manner. Grabbing a hold of Subaru's collar, she yanks him closer to Ella, shoving him down the seat until they sat right beside each other. Subaru was caught by surprised while Satella squirmed with the sudden intrusion.

"I'm not going to accept a gloomy atmosphere in this house, so you two better make up"

She lightly scolded the two, who nodded their heads fearfully, her stares were sharper than knives, even though she is unaware of it, "Good, I'll go make myself some coffee then…" And she walks out of the room and into the kitchen, leaving the two hanging with a rather awkward atmosphere, "Uh… I'll… get changed then…" Subaru could only nod awkwardly in return.

* * *

"This is impossible I suppose..."

Beatrice was standing on a stool by the sink, looking at the mirror. Her hair was indeed ruffed up, and it won't return to its usual shape, so Beatrice had to do it herself, but, "Why is this so hard, I suppose!" she yanks at her hair, messy and disheveled. As she was about to fall down into despair, Naoko came in to save the day, with a hairbrush in hand, and a pair of hair bands.

"Let me help you with that, Beatrice…"  
"It's useless, I suppose…"

Disregarding the spirits depressing tone, Naoko goes on with Beatrice's hairdo. Beatrice didn't even care to open up her eyes, just letting the woman do whatever she wants with her hair, in the end, it won't be able to return to usual glory, but that's just what she thought, "Hehe, done!" She ended it with a clap and a gleeful smile.

Beatrice didn't expect much, but once shqAqqqe opened her eyes, she was surprised, her hair was tied into matching twintails, it was different from her usual drills but they still looked rather nice "H-Hmm… you are quite skilled for a person with such an evil look, I suppose…" Beatrice compliments and insults her simultaneous, but Naoko doesn't mind at all, replying with a simple, "I get that a lot…"

Beatrice harrumphed, and made her way down the stool, going back to the room, where Subaru was. By then, Keinichi had already arrived down the stairs, Isumi had also woken up, and was dressed in a jacket and scarf, seems like she was going out again? Or maybe she was extremely sensitive to the morning cold, even more so than Subaru.

"Are you sensitive to the cold too? Sis"

Subaru asked while he persisted in changing the channels, "Ah, we didn't tell you Subaru?" His dad told him, he was also wearing some heavy clothing, "Since it's winter break, we're all going out for a little fun! And since you're here, we're decided to go out a little early" He said while shooting out a thumbs up, one could not possibly mistake him for someone else's dad.

"Oh really? Where are we going?"  
"The amusement park~"

Isumi chimed in, "There's this new one that opened just recently and I wanna ride all~ the rides!" She says while striking out a dramatic pose, she was most definitely Subaru's sister, there's no mistaking it. She walked over to Subaru and sat beside him as he continued to switch the channel endlessly. "Isn't there anything good these days? It's only been ten years and people are already running out of ideas…"

"You sound an old man when you say it like that, you know?"  
"I don't want to hear that from an actual old man…"  
"Hey, I'm still young! I've only passed through half of my life"

"That's thinking you're going to live for a hundred years… don't go deciding your lifespan now-" he suddenly stopped on a new channel, it was the local news channel, he didn't really know why he stopped there, but he soon realized once he read the headline. 'Shit…' he quickly tried to change the channel but found that the remote was no longer in his hand.

"Oi, Isumi!"

She had snatched it and kept it inside her jacket, and she was looking directly at the tv, "Hey, this isn't something someone of your age should watch!" he tried to grab it out of her but he stopped midway seeing her tremble. Something clicked in him, it suddenly makes sense now, why she's acting all normal after a cold-blooded murder has just occurred right in front of her eyes a day ago, she hasn't gotten over it, she simply forgot it ever happened, in other words, she had just rememberd such a thing happened.

"Isumi what's wrong?"

Keinichi called out to her, it seems he wasn't briefed on what had happened and Subaru didn't want him to know anymore. Fearing something bad may happen, Subaru gets off the couch and walks towards the tv, switching it off just as they mentioned "Gunshots".

"Please… forget everything that-"

"Show me…" she demanded, she was very serious but just as equally scared, Subaru was momentarily speechless, not knowing what to say and afraid he might make her edge him on, "Brother… please show me…" the two of them stared at each other, seeing no way through the determined eyes, he gives up with a sigh.

"Fine…"

Subaru lifted up his shirt, revealing his blood-curdling wounds, or so she thought. All that was there were a few scratches and he's newly toned muscles from Wilhelm's intense training. "Woah there kiddo, I know you wanna show your buff and all but do remember she's your little sister…"

She stared at Subaru, astonished, "I saw it… how?!" she looks at Subaru, rather desperate, and confused. "I saw him shoot you! Three… no, five times… I forgot about it because I was so scared… but how? How are you… not-" Before she was able to say the last word, Subaru sealed her lips with a single finger.

"Your still young sis, you've got a lot of things ahead of you so don't contaminate yourself with those thoughts… though, if I hadn't let my guard down you wouldn't have to see that, some older brother I turned out to be..."

"No! You have to be hurt right? And all because I went out on my own… I… I'm sorry!" She was rather disturbed by the fact that Subaru survived a bunch of bullets to his chest, but she was also guilty as she was part of the reason why he had to go through that. Subaru patted her head to reassure her.

"Hehe, don't worry, taking a few bullets to the chest… I've been through things, far, far worse…"

The latter part was whispered in an intense tone, causing Isumi to flinch, "Okay now hold up!" Their dad suddenly butted in, with a rather exaggerated expression. "What's with all this gun shooting and hurting and stuff?! Subaru, what exactly happened back there!" He asked, worried out of his pants.

"Sorry, but I don't-"  
"You're telling me… Subaru…"

His father's gaze was intense, it's as if he's about to shoot out lasers, though, it's not on the level of his mother's, "I know see where she got her stubbornness… fine, don't say I didn't warn you…" He replied with a strong nod, and Subaru sighed once again.

"We found Isumi with her friend in an alleyway with two thugs, I knocked one out and intimidated the other one, Beako and Ella then went to the two to calm them down. Then someone else suddenly appeared, apparently, it was their boss of sorts… that other one ran over to him bawling his eyes out… and he killed him with a simple gunshot…"

Isumi squeezed her eyes shut, grabbing onto Subaru's leg for dear life. Their father just stayed there with an indifferent expression, "He then turned over to us and told us to give up but after I refused… well, let's say his gun went on rapid fire…"

"I'm taking the fact that your alive is due to those… 'Witch genes' right?"

"Honestly speaking, I wouldn't have been able to beat the first guy had I not have the witch genes… though, taking a flurry of bullets isn't exactly a joyful moment… and it hurt a damn lot pulling them out of my chest one by one…" Subaru says while keeping up a calm and nonchalant expression.

"Keeping a face like that while talking about death and the such… just what did you mean when you said you've been through worse…?"

"Being eaten, being mauled, impaled, stabbed, falling a cliff, poisoned, kicked, forgotten, burnt, there are many things-"

He felt he grip on his legs tighten insanely, he also heard noticeable sobbing, "You just had to make me say all that stuff in front of her, didn't you. What an irresponsible father you are…"

"S-Sorry… guess I lost my cool back there…"

Subaru squatted down and comforted her, like how Emilia had once done to him, "Why…" he heard her faint voice, "Why do you have to go back into a place like that! Wouldn't it be better just to stay here with us?" The endless worrying of a family member, it has been two months, no, even longer if you count the number of days spent in other loops, he's almost forgotten that people would be worried about him.

"Listen, sis… someday, you'll meet someone, or maybe a group of people that you'll get really close to, once you've found those people, there's already no turning back… you'll want to be with them, have fun times with them, you'll risk your life for their sake, I've got people like that in the other world… letting them down all for the safety of one, is not really a good way of thinking…"

Subaru looks at her with the eyes of an admirable older brother, he wipes her tears off and ruffles up her hair, "Ara Ara, what's wrong dear?" Naoko asks, having intruded into the conversation, "Ah, it's nothing mom, was just telling about how scary the creatures were in the other world, though I might have given her too big of a scare…"

"Haah, Subaru, you have to be more considerate to a maiden's heart, no wonder you got into a fight with Ella-chan"

"Okay no, that has nothing to do with consideration, not when she was all ov- nevermind, I was just being inconsiderate, please forgive my rudeness…" Remembering the cause of the said 'fight', Subaru attempts to hide his embarrassment by bowing down his head.

"My, you've grown into a fine gentleman without me watching, I'm envious of your friends…"

And with the entrance of the Natsuki families dense housewife, the tension around the room eases out rather quickly.

It didn't take long until everyone was prepared, Satella and Naoko were wearing matching turtleneck sweaters, though they both wore their own different beanie.

Beatrice just stuck with Isumi's tracksuit, adding a scarf as a finishing touch and Subaru wore a simple hoodie, quite bland but he didn't really care all that much.

"Right then, we're getting on a train! Have you two ever been on a train?"  
"No! But I know they're fast metal carriages that travel by rail tracks! They can bring people to places near or far, and they're really cheap too!"  
"Oh, looks like someone did their research"

"I won't stop at anything to find out as much as I can about Japan, that way, I'll be able to understand Bakasu even more!" hearing her insults stung harder than usual, a little more so than Ram's usual jabs.

"Please stop, I said I'm sorry…"

.

Once they've packed up all they need, they headed towards the nearest train station. It was about, say, twenty minutes away.

"Huaaa..." Satella and Beatrice just stared in awe as they walked around scanning the area, Isumi giggled seeing their surprised faces while Subaru just sighed.

It was still a little unbelievable to think that there could be a world other than theirs, but Subaru's parents had already abandoned all logic the moment they saw Subaru return. This may as well be some illusion caused by stress or something like that, but even if this isn't the real Subaru, as long as they could be back with him, it didn't matter.

"Hey, you guys thinking of something weird aren't you? Just so you know, I'm the real deal" Subaru said as he glanced back, looking a little annoyed. The two of them replied with shocked faces, "Y-You can read minds now!?" Keinichi said, exasperated.

"Don't think of embarrassing thoughts, don't think of embarrassing thoughts!"  
"Woah, calm down there, your face just kinda said that is all, even if I am your great son, reading minds is still waaaay out of my reach…"

Satella, Beatrice, and Isumi run ahead into the train station, all getting excited, well, who could blame them for that. "Three tickets to Fujiyoshida, two children, and four adults," Keinichi asked the person behind the glass window.

Glancing over at the three ecstatic girls in front of him, Subaru silently remarked, "You sure it's not three children?"

"Hey, Bakasu, I heard that!"

"And Betty has already informed you that Betty isn't a child, I suppose!" Subaru shushes the two of them "If you look young you get a discount, so just stay there and look cute okay?" Subaru says while crouching down to Beatrice's level.

"Really!? Ah then I'm actually twelve ye-" "No, _You_ have to act your age, Ella…" Subaru said while grinding her head with his knuckles, "Naah! Bakasu, it hurts! Stop!"

"Why don't you stop with all the Bakasu this, Bakasu that... or do you want me to call perverted witch-san from now?"  
"W-What?! Perverted… wife-san? I didn't know Bakasu was so bold…"  
"Witch-san! I said W-i-t-c-h, witch-san! Not wife-san! Get your ears straightened up"

* * *

"Hup"

They all hopped in one by one, the train was nice and cool, not that it did them any good, it was winter after all. Keinichi looked over to Beatrice and Satella, them looking rather awestruck at their surroundings, "You said they were… four hundred old? Right?" He asked Subaru while pointing at the two.

"At least four hundred, not sure what they're exact age is… and I get what you mean, something like this should be physically impossible…"

The girls, Naoko included, were all bickering in girly ways, "I think it's less of them being weird and more on them being girls, don't you think so?" Subaru shrugs his shoulders and replies, "I never really understood women, so I wouldn't know.."

"Haha, trust me, even after twenty years of being married, I still can't fathom why your mother does the things she does"  
"No, that's less of her being a woman and more of her being… well, herself…"

"You, old man, Betty orders you to explain how this vehicle works, I suppose" Beatrice demands as she jabs a finger at Keinichi, a dominant aura was enveloping her, "Gah, how cold you can be… but as you wish..."

"Ah, I want to know as well!" Isumi called as well, and so the two girls sat side by side as Subaru's dad explained the working behind the maglev train, Satella had left long before it even started, knowing ahead of time that it was going to be too much for her poor little brain.

"So this is your world... it's wonderful, isn't it… Bakasu~" She said as she sat beside Subaru.

"Most of your everyday chores are automated, you just need to press a button and walk around and most of everything is done, yeah, it's great, isn't it? But then, with so little to do, things get boring, and with the ever-increasing demand for more intellectual minds, schools decided to bump up their difficulty so it's not exactly easy to be in this world… not that it isn't worth it or anything..."

"I also like how kind everyone here is… they all greeted us so nicely, even though we're complete strangers. You don't see many people like that in Lugnica, or other countries for that matter"

"I'm not some social science expert but I'd say it's the fact that unlike in Lugnica, the only _race_ difference in here is your skin color and where you were born in, other than that, I think we get along pretty well… Since we're all humans anyway"

"Heh~ Lucky you…"

Once they all have marveled at the amazingness of modern transportation, we got off and made the rest of the way by foot. It was a long walk but it was very fun. "A world without magic… just the thought of it makes very little sense. How do you protect yourself from large beasts, how do you build all these magnificent structures, and most importantly, how did you keep it so~ cold in your room, Isumi-chan!" Satella said rather curious, _very_ curious.

"It's all thanks to machines and other tools… we automated weapons to fend off large beasts if we ever go to the wilderness, we also use large machines to build these buildings, like the one you saw the other day, Ella… and we have something called an air conditioner, to put it simply, you cool the air down inside a box with something that resembles ice, then you blow the cold air out with a fan"

"Waah~ I want to live here!"

"It's hard for us to believe that Subaru was taken away by such a beautiful girl" Keinichi teases them. He then nudges Subaru while giving him a wry smile, "So Subaru, how long have you two known each other? And… how far did you go? Huh? Come on, don't keep us in the dark about this"

"As you wish… I've come to know about her about three days in, then I actually met her about… a month ago, taking RBD time into account, that is..." He whispered the last part so that his dad couldn't hear. "Also, our relation is that of a captor and a captive, so we don't really go anywhere… sorry to keep your hopes up, but it ain't going anywhere"

"Ah, so you're still a hopeless virgin"  
"My, how rude you can be…"

Keinichi snickered and then proceeded to ask, "You said something about making someone a king right? By looking at Beatrice's clothing when she first came here, I'd say you were sent to somewhere near the medieval age, so, could it be that Beatrice a princess and like, the sister of this person your making king?"

Hearing her name being called she glances over to the group, "Mind you, Betty is not a princess, Betty is Subaru's contract spirit, I suppose. Do not make the same mistake twice, if you do, I will blow your head off for real this time..." She said while waving her arms around in circles, Keinichi was a little creeped out.

"Well, she definitely acts like a spoilt princess brat sometimes," Subaru said while patting her head, "But yeah, she's just a not very known spirit, her creator was a witch but she's long dead now. Our contract was decided last minute so we aren't exactly sure what's in it, but it goes along the lines of 'Always relying on each other' so it's kinda symbiotic"

"So it's like taking care of a child? She relies on you for things and you rely on her so you won't be lonely right?" Naoko said, unaware of the rage she had induced onto Beatrice, who was being held back by Subaru. "I am not lonely, I'll have you know that mom!"

In a way, yes, she was definitely child-like... ish... she's lived and endured four hundred years of isolation, her body is everlasting so yeah, you can't tell how old she is just by looking at her, but even though she lived that long, with her being cut off from the outside world, her mentality had stayed put, or at least she matured really, really slowly. It was Subaru's job to see to it that she gets everything she's been missing, that being happiness, attention, love, and most importantly, fun!

"But yes, I can't think of her as anything else but a child that is desperately in need"  
"Even my contractor has betrayed me!? What is this world, I wonder!"

Speaking of fun, they had finally arrived at their destination. They all jumped, skipped, and hopped their way to the entrance where they got their entrance passes, Isumi and Satella running in ahead. "Right, so are we going to split ourselves or should we stay as a group?" Keinichi asked everyone.

"Beako-chan! Come with me, I want to show you something!" Completely ignoring the rest, they dashed away through a corner "W-Wait! Isumi!" Keinichi and Naoko rushed over to grab a hold of them, but they were already long gone, hidden somewhere in the sea of people. It was surprising, even if they came early, there were still a good amount of people here.

Subaru sighed as he looked at his parents, "Wouldn't you have some kind of contingency plan for things like this?"

"No, Isumi's normally doesn't run off, especially into a crowd..." Keinichi said while scratching his head, trying to find the two, "Looks like we let our guard down dear... now we have to find her!"

"Right then, you two have fun with that" Subaru went ahead in the opposite direction, not really caring in the slightest that the two have escaped. His parents gave him a disappointed and angry look, "Subaru, show some care here, your sister just went out unattended on her own!" His mother scolded him, but he didn't really care much.

"She's not alone, she's with Beatrice, and no matter how flimsy she looks, just one touch is all she needs to end your life, besides, I can talk to her right now… Yo, Beako, where you at?"

'I've been abducted by your sister, I suppose… even if you ask, I'm not sure where we are, but she's proposing a plan to run away and go through all the rides while your parents are searching for us, and then we'll find you all when we're hungry, I suppose"

"They say that they'll run away from you for a while then they'll come running back when they're hungry…"  
"What?! The nerve!"

"Okay, now that that's settled, let's go! Bakasu!" Satella grabbed his arm and pulled him away at a terrifying speed, which is not what they should be doing, they're parents were on the brink of collapse, but Beatrice may have some fun without him for a change. If any danger were to happen, Beatrice could easily deal with it using a mana drain, nothing too flashy he hoped.

Subaru just held a sour look as she dragged him all around, "Why the face, Bakasu?"

"It's not nice getting dragged into a date that you're totally unwillingly to partake in, and I recall this really bad feeling when I'm dragged around, I'm sure you know what that means..."

"Ehe… sorry...?" Satella said while admiring the selection of rides, it was really exciting, even for Subaru, "So… what are we going on first?" He asked, now with an enthusiastic smile on his face, hidden from Satella's view.

* * *

 **A/N**

Bakasu! Bakasu! Bakasu!

 **(Some End of Chapter Conversations!)**

 **[ReviewR524]:** Right, unfolding the sail for the Satte-Subaru ship, let's go!  
 **[Subaru]:** Author-san! Is this really okay, aren't you a Suba-Rem shipper!?  
 **[ReviewR524]:** Nah not anymore, I find Satella to be a much more suitable partner for you  
 **[Subaru]:** Nani!? No… who's idea was idea was this?!  
 **[CRed]:** Twas mine! Haha!  
 **[Satella]:** Arigato, Red-sama!  
 **[Subaru]:** The whole world's turning against me...


	8. Chapter 7: A Time to be Remembered

**Warlock of Sin. Arc 1: Prelusion**

 **Chapter 7: A Time to be Remembered**

* * *

 **[Part 1: Amusement Park]**

"So... what do you want to go on first?" Subaru asked Satella as she eagerly squirmed around, not really sure which to choose, "Just so you know, the longer we wait, the more crowded they're going to be, so if you have a ride that you really wanna go on, that should be the first one, it'll take too long if we visit it last"

"Woah, smart thinking Bakasu! Then let's go for that spinning one that goes around and around!"

She points over to what could only be described as a spinning death machine, being in a place that high on the ground, spinning that fast, it's not really something for the weak of hearts. "A man should toughen up during these situations… Then let's go!" Having newfound enthusiasm, the two make their way through the line.

"Excuse me you two, but might this be your first time riding this?"

The ride attendant asked the two just as they were about to hop into their seats, "Actually yeah, is there a problem?" Subaru replied while grabbing onto Satella, who tried to pry off his hold to no avail, "No, it's just, I was thinking if you would like to have one of these…" He handed over to Subaru a bag, it was unmistakably a barf bag, "Of course it's free of charge." Subaru hasn't really gone on any rides, he was a NEET, after all, so he wouldn't know.

"Bakasu~ what's the holdup!"

Glancing over at Satella, he just had this gut feeling that this encounter was one decided by fate, "Yes, I'll have one" Grabbing one, he releases Satella and she bolted inside the contraption, her eyes sparkling with joy. It was a rather weird ride, having two circles of seats, one facing inwards and one facing outwards, they were facing each other essentially. He's been told that the one looking inwards is much riskier, and he informed that to Satella, though, she didn't really listen.

"Here, here, Bakasu~ I saved you the seat across me"

Satella ended up seating in the seat facing inwards and she presented the seat across her, and Subaru took it but then made sure with Satella, "That one is a little risky so are you sure you're okay with sitting there?" She was all giddy but this time she heard it, though her reply was pretty much the same, "Risky, not risky, what does it matter!"

"Alright then…"

And the ride started, with them getting off the ground, they felt chills being shot through their spines, the exciting kind. Satella just wrapped her arms around the safety strap, her eyes reflected her enthusiasm, while Subaru was left there feeling like he should have reconsidered his life choices. The moment it started spinning, she lost it.

"KYAAAAAA!"

It was spinning at a speed that could be close to the sound barrier, something that Subaru didn't know was even possible for an amusement park ride. His face was one that elicited death, his eyes were already pale, this wasn't what he was expecting whatsoever. Adjacent to the overwhelmed Subaru was Satella, though she still had life in that petite body of hers, it was flailing around for dear life. Once the ride slowed down a little bit, Subaru regained a bit of his sanity, and Satella felt the urge to empty out her stomach.

Subaru saw that expression on her face, and he was about to lose it but then something ticked in him, he realises what that he had the barf bag, not wasting another second, he whips it up and shoves it over at Satella's mouth, "Don't let go of this if you don't wanna die!" He ordered her and she obeyed obediently, squeezing onto the paper bag like it costed her life.

.

Meanwhile, Beatrice and Isumi were somewhere in the amusement park, away from a parent's prying eyes, "Beako-chan, where should we go next?" They had made it back to the amusement park entrance, seems Isumi was skilled in hiding and running away, it surprised even Beatrice, "Hmph, Betty is only escorting you, I suppose, go wherever you like…"

"Aww, but it's no fun if I'm the only one choosing…"

She gave Beatrice the puppy dog eyes and her calm composure faltered, she looked around to see if there was anything of interest, there was nothing much, well, nothing but a single game, "What about that one, I suppose?" She points over to a corner, there was a claw machine, looking quite new, and there wasn't anyone playing it at the moment.

"Ahh, yes, you control a claw to get a prize and then drop it out! Oh, but it's very difficult to play…"  
"Hmph, we'll just have to see how difficult it is, I suppose!"

Having confidence in her plushie grabbing skills, Beatrice and Isumi challenged the newly installed claw machine, there was a reason why no one was playing it, but the two of them wouldn't know why until a little later. "So how exactly do we play this, I wonder?" Beatrice asks while circling around the machine, intrigued by how it worked.

"We have to put in a token each time we try, and then we use these buttons to control the claw, this button to drop the claw, and this one to make it grab"  
"The mechanics seem simple enough… I might as well try this, I suppose, Isumi, a token please"

Isumi nods her head and hands her over a coin, which she slides into the coin slot, the claw started lighting up, and she started. She was aiming for a cat plush, it was eerily similar to what Puck looks like, though, this one felt just the tiniest bit more chubby. She lined up the grabber with the plush and she plunged it down, making sure to hit the grab button while she's at it.

"Ah…"  
"You missed…"

The plush slipped out of the grabber flawlessly, as if it was a liquid one could say and she had finished the game, empty-handed, "This is harder than I originally expected, I suppose…" Beatrice said, rather disappointed by her confidence, "Don't worry Beako-chan! I still have a looot of tokens left, we can try all we want, we're bound to get it!" Isumi said while bringing up a bag of coins, and yes, that was a looot of coins.

"How did you manage to get all of that, I wonder?"  
"Oh don't worry, I got it a while ago when I rummaged through brothers room"  
"Hmm, that would be considered theft, I suppose… but it's Subaru so I don't think he would mind…"

"And if he finds out… we'll just say that we didn't know it was his…" Isumi shot Beatrice with a devious smile, Beatrice looking back with an equally mischievous one, "Then… let's play to our heart's content, I suppose!"

 _Fifteen minutes later_

"JUST WHAT IS THIS, I SUPPOSE!"

Beatrice screamed out, rather frustrated. It was their fifteenth try but they couldn't get the plush they wanted in any of them, behind them was a pile of unwanted plushies, failed attempts if you would say. Isumi was beside Beatrice looking at their sack of coins, nearly exhausted, "At this rate, we'll run out of tokens before we even get that cat plushie…"

"I've had enough of this, I suppose…"

With her eyes glaring at the machine, she puts places her hand on the machine, and using magic, she slowly drags the plush over to the dropping bin and voila, it slid across and into Beatrice's arms, she chuckled very deviously as she examines the doll, "Beako-chan… that's cheating you know…"

"It's their fault for infuriating the great Betty, I suppose… now, what do we do with those rejects?" She points over to the pile of 'rejected' plushies, though it was a harsh way of saying it, it was true, they found no use of them. They did plan on bringing it with them but a pile of plushies isn't exactly an easy thing to carry for two little girls, then Isumi held Beatrice's hand, "Get ready to run, Beako-chan!"

"Run? Why, I supp-"

" **FREE PLUSHIES ON THE GROUND~"**

And the next thing they know, a wave of people rushed over to their direction. Luckily, the two had already fled the scene while that was happening.

They walked a little bit more, buying some snacks and with the remaining amount of money they had on them, they sat by a canal, one that was seemingly for a boat ride of sorts, "Well, stopping by and just relaxing isn't so bad once in a while I guess…" Isumi said as she swung her legs back and forth, Beatrice seating beside her, looking over at the distance.

"Oh my, if it isn't Beatrice…"

The two heard a voice intruding on their silent moment and they turned over, they saw a woman waving to her. "Hmm, it's that Azuka lady from the other day, I suppose…" Indeed it was the woman she and the other two met the other day, it seems she was wearing the same clothes she was using yesterday. The two of them got up and went over to greet her, with Isumi bowing.

"So what brings you here, I suppose...?"  
"Hmm, stress relief, it's not easy being an adult you know?"  
"You don't say...?"

Azuka then looked over to Isumi, rather curious, "So, is this your oversea friend over here…" she said while looking over to Isumi, her getting a little tense, "She's, as Subaru put it, my cousin of sorts I guess, to be honest, I'm not really sure what to see her as… we're not really blood-related" Isumi was struck hard with that, she didn't think Beatrice to be bold enough to say that aloud, "B-Beako-chan… I'm here you know?"

"Yes, I know that, I suppose…"

"Huhu, merciless with your words, just like the last time we met… so, what are you two doing here alone? Isn't it dangerous to be out here without someone watching over you? Where are Subaru and Ella? Don't tell me they ran off on another date again…?" She says while glancing over to the canal.

"Brother on a date?! Beako-chan, I didn't know Ella Nee-chan and Brother were in _that_ kind of relationship!" Isumi cried out, rather shocked by the sudden revelations. Beatrice sighed, and brushed her off, "They aren't in that kind of relationship, Azuka simply fell for a simple lie, I suppose…"

"A lie?!"

"For you to have not noticed that she was lying, you really are becoming of old age now aren't you?" Beatrice says while flicking up her twintails. "Those two are in a rather complicated relationship, though I wouldn't call it a romantic one…"

"No, no, wait… Ella is your half-sister… and this girl here is your cousin… and since Subaru is her brother… then that means Ella is his cousin as well… and their dating… and… Oagh, this makes no sense…"

"Don't worry, it's not supposed to, you know…"

* * *

Subaru and Satella got off the spinning ride of death and made their way out of that initial area, before they left though, Subaru shoots up a thumbs up towards the ride attendant, even thanking him for 'saving his life'. "So, are we done already…?" Subaru asked the dizzied Satella as she hurls another blob out into the barf bag.

"Ugh…"

"Guess we'll wait a little bit before the next ride…" They made their way to a sitting area and Satella rested her head on a table, Subaru brought back a few things to fill her belly up so she wouldn't starve to death. "You know, you really should have listened back then" "I get it, I get it… sorry, Bakasu…" She doesn't sound very sorry, not one bit, Subaru thought.

"Since you can't handle super fast ones like that, we'll just have to go and take it slow, for now, I think something like a log ride or maybe bumper cars would be a good choice for now… what do you think?" He asks Satella who only nods her head weakly. He sat beside her and stretches out his limbs, "Ahh, it's only been the first ride and we're already exhausted…"

"Bakasu… head hurts…"

Satella suddenly gets up and leans Subaru's shoulders, making him flinch all of a sudden, "H-Hey…" "Please… Subaru…" Not really able to stand against her in this state he sighs and relaxes, giving his shoulder to her out of pity, "Fine, take all the time you need…" And with that, the day went on. After Satella's spinning head was put to rest, they went again, to a different, more slow ride this time.

First up was the bumper cars, it was fun, Satella had a hard time with the steering wheel but she managed to get the hang of it halfway through and she was destroying the game right after.

Up next was a haunted house, they came in with anticipating eyes, but once they exited, they were rather disappointed, maybe it was the fact that they had experienced much more horrifying things or maybe the haunted house just wasn't that horrifying, but the screaming adults beside them made them lean more on the former reasoning.

They took a short break, with Subaru buying Satella a clump of cotton candy, it was a nostalgic treat for him, you don't see cotton candy often and it was a very luxury good in Lugnica, so being able to eat a lot for cheap is really satisfying.

Right after, they took a visit to the rollercoaster, luckily it wasn't as fast as the spinning death machine, but it was still pretty fast. Satella clung onto Subaru's arm after the ride, a little dizzy and scared from the fast-paced ride.

And finally, noon passed by in a flash, they were both on a wooden boat floating across the canal, Subaru feeling sea-sick, "You need a bag?" Satella asked and he just grunted, not really able to think properly, "I'll take that as a yes…" The boat ride would take a while, it was a long canal, after all, they aren't sure if Subaru would survive till the end.

"Hang in there…" She comforted him while rubbing his back. She heard talking nearby, and she glanced her head up, catching sight of a woman, it was Azuka and then she spotted Beatrice and Isumi, seeing them going at it like barking dogs, made her giggle lightly. Azuka's attention was reeled in and the two made eye contact, Satella put a finger in her mouth and she nodded, the two smiled at each other as the boat took Satella and Subaru farther away.

"What are you looking at, I suppose?"  
"Oh, it's nothing… well I've gotta go now"

Waving off, she left the two little girls to themselves, Beatrice sighs out of exhaustion, keeping a conversation doesn't seem to be one of Beatrice's strong points, "Right then, might as well bring you back to those two, I suppose…" Beatrice said as she stretched her hands out, scanning the area, "Huh? But we haven't spent nearly enough time yet?"

"That may be true, but looking after you at the same time, might as well bring those two with us…"

Hearing this, Isumi's eyes slightly widened and a very uncomfortable feeling arose in her chest, "So… you were just looking after me… you didn't want to have fun at all didn't you!" She let out in a rather loud voice, and she suddenly bolted out the other way, surprising Beatrice. It seems she has said something that hurt her quite a bit.

"Haah… I guess I shouldn't have treated you the way I did Subaru, I suppose… Well, it's Betty's fault so I should see to it that she's alright… but first of all, that reaction, it's most definitely the result of excessive parenting, those two are also at fault, and Subaru too to an extent, I should first inform…"

She closed her eyes and sat back down on the wooden chair, and speaking in her mind she says, 'Subaru, are you free, I suppose?' she sent a message over to Subaru who was nowhere in sight, 'Ah, Beako? Yeah, kinda, just dizzy from a ride, you need something? Don't tell me you lost Isumi already...'

'Betty isn't that incompetent, I suppose… Betty might have said something that might have hurt her a little bit'  
'Ah, I told you not to be too rude, Beako… so, you want me to fix things up for ya?'  
'Absolutely not, I suppose, this has little to do with you, I just require assistance'  
'Sure, I'm all ears'

'I need you to make sure the other two don't find her, it'd be bad if that happens, especially when she's in this state, you think you can handle that?'

'What do you take me for? Of course, I'll handle things on this side, not really sure what's going on but I'm sure my great Beako could fix things up, just stop being so rude all the time, you'll make more enemies than friends ya hear?'

'I don't want to hear that coming from you, I suppose, well, I'll be going now…' She said as she opened her eyes once more, severing the connection. She gets up and dusts herself, "For Betty to go out of her way to console a child, I've really lost my position as a Great spirit now have I… well, it's not all that bad, I suppose…" She looks towards the direction where the little girl ran off to and started walking there.

.

The amusement park was rather large, and it was getting crowded by the second, but this posed no threat to Beatrice, as she knew exactly where she was. Walking through the crowd she could see that for any normal person, finding Isumi would be like looking for a grain of sand in a haystack, but "Unlike your parents, I'm very talented in finding people… especially ones that have made a contract with me, you know?"

She said as she turns a corner, looking at a teary-eyed Isumi sat on the ground, "Leave me alone…" She said desperately, but Beatrice didn't move at all, "What reason do I have to leave you alone, I suppose?" she asked, while lowering down meet her eye to eye, though she looked away, "Your all treating me like a child! I hate it!"

Just as she expected, it seems like due to her parent's overbearingness, her privacy and freedom have been limited, very limited, that could stress one out possibly, "Then tell me, what have you done to make me think of you as a more mature person, I suppose? Rebelling against your parents, getting yourself in trouble, you should understand that those are exactly what a child would do, your way of thinking is wrong, I suppose…" She said while patting her head, trying to get her attention.

"Then what do I do! Mom and Dad always look after me, I can't do anything with them around… they won't trust me with anything! I always have to be monitored, I'm not allowed to have anything that's too risky, I don't like this one bit!"

Beatrice sighs, the state at which Subaru had left the family in was not one of happiness, that resulted in Isumi being the way she is, "If this keeps going, I won't be able to do anything… there was a field trip once and I missed it because they wouldn't let me go, all my friends had fun but I was left behind!" Such a pitiful girl, Beatrice thought, she pats her head to comfort.

"Hmph, as a Great spirit, Betty isn't very found of such a pitiful sight, I suppose. If I really must, I'll give you the opportunity to prove yourself then" Beatrice said while she puffed up her chest, Isumi looked up to her brilliant form, "If you can prove by the end of the week that your responsible, I will personally see to it that those two treat you more properly" she said in a rather firm tone.

"Beako-chan…. Thank you, thank you! Ah, I love you~" She was absolutely wrong. Beatrice was tackled by a crying Isumi, didn't she just say that she wanted to be looked at less of like a child and more like a grown-up, well, it's normal for children to want that, but since Beatrice didn't really get it that much she didn't think about it. "Tch, Subaru didn't say I needed to know all of this stuff when we were going to come here, I suppose…"

It took some time but they both eventually got tired of doing things so they sat down in an open sitting area, time passed by rather quickly, the sun was already starting to set by the time they sat down. "Isumi, Beatrice!" She heard two people shout out as they approached them, Naoko and Keinichi it seems. Isumi was asleep on Beatrice's lap and she was enjoying her drink as she watched them rush past the crowds.

"What happened, did you get hurt?!"  
"Don't worry! I've got an ice pack!"

"Hmph, no wonder she was so eager to escape your grasp, I suppose… you're even more overbearing than Subaru with Emilia"

* * *

"Waah~ The view is really beautiful…" Satella said as she plastered her face onto the glass window, Subaru joined her, just without the plastering. The two of them were high up in the Ferris wheel, gazing down on the setting sun in the distance, a beautiful sight the both of them thought simultaneously, and indeed, it was a sight worth watching.

Suddenly, the sky darkened and they noticed clouds covering up the sky, "Huh?" Satella took interest and looked over at the sky and that's when they saw it, snow. Subaru had forgotten but it was winter, and that usually means there's snow. "How could I forget…" They both peered out of the window, their breaths clouding the window, the setting sun, the falling snow, and looking at it all from such a high height, breathtaking.

As they kept on admiring the view, the ride went to an end and they hopped off their carriage, consulting Beatrice for directions, they went back and met with everyone...

* * *

 **[Part 2: A Night Out]**

They all made their way back home after the tiring yet, exciting day, definitely one of the more fun days Subaru has had. After having dinner in a restaurant near their home, none of them thought twice, straight to bed was where they went. Though it'd be wrong to say that some had other plans, "You're not sleeping already, are you?"

Beatrice said as she leaned on the wall, taking off her scarf that was wrapped around her neck, "Beako-chan? What's wrong…" Isumi said as she notices the spirit gazing upon her, "You've slept for a while during the trip and while we were going back as well, chances that you're sleepy now are low, I suppose?" Isumi rubbed her eyes a bit and nodded, "Well, you're right that I can't sleep… but are we going somewhere?"

"Tonight, you'll be giving Betty a tour around town, in fact, so get ready, Betty will be waiting downstairs…" Not giving her a chance to even think about it, Beatrice walks out into the room, fading footsteps are all that was heard. "...!" She bolted up from her futon and quickly dressed up in some warm clothing, then continued to go downstairs.

"Beako-chan, isn't it dangerous going out at night?"  
"It might be, but there isn't any other time where we can be alone, I suppose…"

"And if anyone we meet tries something, Betty will be sure to deal with them, I suppose… I'll hit them so hard that they'll forget they even met us, you know..." Beatrice said while staring at her hand, rather furiously. "And I've already dealt with the rest, they won't be waking up for at least another three hours, I suppose. We'll use that time to our liking"

She grabbed onto Isumi's hand and brought her to the door, Isumi herself not sure if this is a very good idea, "Wait, Beako-chan… if we're going to be out in the open at night, at least wear this…" She went over to the shelf and retrieved what could only be sunglasses, ironic with it being night time. "What's this for, I suppose?"

"Well, you might not know but your eyes glow a little in the dark… so it might be a problem if someone sees you"  
"Hmm, not a bad idea, I suppose… then, without further distractions, let us proceed with tonight's outing"

.

Walking through the streets at night had its own marvels, though, it was less of marvels and more of nothingness. The streets were empty, the flickering street lights being the only things 'alive'. The two girls walked side by side, "So, where first, I suppose?" Beatrice asked, leaving Isumi a little shocked, "You're asking me?!"

"I did say _you_ were giving Betty a tour, didn't I?"  
"I-I guess…"

Isumi then proceeded to take the lead, bringing Beatrice to all sorts of places. She brought them to her school's gate, then circled round to see a nearby park, the one where they arrived at, they then went to other places. They passed by the train station once more, then there was an apartment, and what seemed to be a nightclub, they made sure to stay away from there, it was slightly crowded. Their final stop, was a convenience store.

"So many things to choose from, I suppose…"

In front of Beatrice was a collection of lollipops, all different flavors. "Cherry… Orange… even grape…" she ultimately had to resort to a random pick, there was just too much to decide from. Before they left, Beatrice had smuggled out the last of Subaru's cash for her use, she's sure her contractor wouldn't mind, but there was still this small, lingering guilt in her, she'd have to apologize later.

"That'll be 585 yen… and, isn't it a little late for shopping for little girls like you?"  
"It's rude to assume a person's age just from looks, you know?"  
"So, you're like what, sixteen or something?"

"Seventeen, actually" Beatrice corrected the man, though that itself was incorrect. The man gave a rather astonished look then murmured to himself, "I guess real life lolis do exist…" "If you dare speak another word about my height, I will not hesitate to choke you to death, I suppose…" Replying with a death glare, the young man shut his mouth right after that and the two left quietly.

"..."

As the two once again walked through the streets, on their way home, Beatrice felt an eerie presence, one she couldn't really pinpoint. "Someones watching us, I suppose…" Saying this, Isumi tensed up. Beatrice grabs her hands and walks a little bit faster, "Hey, you two!" They hear a voice, and that was the trigger. Breaking into a sprint, Beatrice brings over Isumi into an alleyway, where the voice followed.

"Hey-!"

The person followed the two into the alleyway, but then lost sight of them, "What…? I could of sworn I saw them run off this way…" The man whipped up his flashlight and looked around, "Was I just seeing things?" The man wore blue clothing, with a badge on his chest, a policeman he was. Beatrice and Isumi looked down on the man from the roof of the adjacent building, with Beatrice putting on a triumphant face, "You won't catch Betty that easily, I suppose…"

Isumi was rather relieved it wasn't going to be another situation like last time, she sat down on the cold stone roof. Beatrice teleported the two up there the moment they turned the corner, there would have been no way for him to now. "The sky looks pretty tonight…" Isumi mutters out, grabbing Beatrice's attention away from the policeman.

The two look up at the clear sky for a while, gazing at the stars while they were at it, until Beatrice spoke, "Subaru said that his name was from a star constellation, I suppose… might you know which one that would be?" She nods and proceeds to point at a cluster of lights in the sky, she showed Beatrice other constellations, Orion was one of them, she also showed Aldebaran, then Capella, there were many more after, until another voice intruded.

"I wonder if Petelgeuse had some relation to the star Betelgeuse?"

"-!" The two flinched to the voice and hurriedly turned around, seeing a figure looking down at them, "Yo, you two had enough fun yet? It's getting late you know…" It was Subaru, having a nice smile on his face, Beatrice gave a sour look while Isumi was recovering from her panic. "You were the one watching us that time, I wonder?"

"You got that right, man you don't know how panicked I was when I felt Beako wasn't beside me! Let me know if your gonna have a girls night out next time, sheesh, worrying me for no reason. Sis, don't follow Beako's footsteps, make sure you inform us if your gonna go out somewhere, that's the mature thing to do, you know"

"Y-Yes!"

Subaru nodded and helped the two up, a rift was behind him, "Now let's get you two to bed" grabbing the two, he dragged them both into the rift, with Beatrice complaining, "How did you manage to get up, I suppose! I drained every last bit of mana from your body, leaving only a little for you to live!"

"My, how harsh you can be Beako… but no amount of damage to my body can let me neglect the fact that you've gone missing, you had me worried to death! Oh, and you owe me my money, got that? Both of you… I know you took some too, sis..."

"Tch, I suppose…"  
"S-Sorry, Brother…"

* * *

 **[Part 3: Gifts for the trip back]**

Two days after that night, Subaru set out with Satella to do a little bit of gift shopping for everyone back at Lugnica, they can't just come back without some sort of souvenir now, can they. "So many things to choose from, Subaru… what should we get them? Oh, sorry, I mean Bakasu~" Satella kept up with the teasing, with Subaru not really caring anymore.

"Well, I have an idea on what to get the twins, not sure what Emilia would want… and Fredrica and Garfiel's gonna be a problem too… but I' ve got Otto, Ros-chi, and Petra's on the bag, so we should look for theirs first"

"Ooh, what did you have in mind?"

"The other day, I saw some matching hoodies in a tv commercial, they come in a lot of colors, so I thought I'd find Ram and Rem a pair, I'm sure they'd love it," Subaru said as he leads her to the clothes aisle. They were in a rather far away clothes store, they left around early morning and it's almost noon now, they had just reached the store a few minutes ago too.

"Hey Bakasu, mind if I pick one for myself? Pretty please~"  
"Sure, we're using my college savings so we've got plenty to spare…"  
"Yay~"

They surfed through the aisles of clothing, there were many different styles, it was the women's section after all, Subaru felt a little awkward being there, but with Satella near him, it would look like they're a couple, "No, no, I don't want to be seen like that…" he mutters to himself, Satella then suddenly approached him with a dress "Bakasu~ How does this look on me?" She shows him a sleeveless purple dress, pretty tight fit in his eyes, "It's nice and all, but I'd recommend something more loose, and with sleeves, it's winter now isn't it?"

"Ah, your right! I'll go find another!"  
"Haah…"

Subaru continued in search of the matching hoodies, and after a bit of walking around, he managed to find a pair, one pink, the other blue, just what he was looking for, "And they seem like a good fit for the two…" He grabs them off their hangers and shoves them in the basket, that was two down, onto the next.

"Ella, you done yet?"  
"Yes~"

She came running to Subaru with a baggy, purple and black dress, fully equipped with sleeves, "Right, we're going to buy some ribbons for Petra now"

It wasn't hard finding those, it was literally in front of the counter. Subaru picked up a few which looked good and they paid for everything, leaving the store shortly after. "So, where to next?" Satella asks while she twirls around in her new dress, "Well I thought of buying a box of pens for Otto, it'd be easier than using ink and feathers. For Ros-chi, well, I was thinking a clown makeup kit or something like that?"

"Hmm, not a bad idea…"  
"I'll just buy Garfiel some sunglasses and Emilia one of those princess tiaras, for Fredrica, I'm still not sure… but I heard she likes strawberries"  
"Ah, yeah, she does actually!"

The two did some more searching through the stores and by the end of the day, they had got everything they needed. Hopping back in the train they made their way back home with their hands full of gift goodies.

* * *

 **[Part 4: Penultimate day]**

"Woah, such a big store! This isn't like the ones I went with Bakasu the other day!"  
"Yep, this one's called a mall, it's very much like an indoor market..."  
"So, cool..."

Satella and Naoko stood in front of a rather large mall in the middle of the city. It was fairly larger than the ones you'd normally go to, and as usual, it had a lot of people inside. While they were going to do some shopping, the others decided to explore the city and have some fun, causing them to split up, though they did plan on meeting back later.

"Right then, let's get started!"  
"Yeah~"

With both of them grabbing a trolley, they rushed in through glass doors.

.

"I really don't get it, isn't shopping like… a girl's go-to thing?" Keinichi asked the two girls walking in the back, them not really paying much attention, "Don't pile Betty with other girls I suppose. She has no need to shop for anything, I suppose. And as a spirit, everything that Betty needs, Subaru can just get me, I suppose"

"Basically, she's been a shut-in her whole life and knows close to nothing about the outside world"  
"S-Subaru! Don't betray Betty like that, I suppose!"

"Sorry, I couldn't help seeing your flustered face every now and then," He said that while patting her head, to which she pouts immensely, "So, where to?"

"Well, the cinemas are screening K*n, I watched the trailer and I just had to see it, your gonna love it!"  
"If it's according to your tastes, it's probably an Action, Sci-Fi isn't it?"

"You hit the bullseye there"

While the two were going on at it with their discussions, Beatrice and Isumi were left behind, "So what exactly is a 'cinema', I suppose?" Beatrice asked. "Uh, it's a place where plays are shown, but the plays were recorded first so what's happening is only isn't really happening"

"So it's like those things they show on the television right?"  
"Yeah, but movies are usually much~ longer"  
"I see, I suppose…"

.

"Ah, soo much pretty clothes!"

"Haha, take the ones you like the most and we'll see how they look on you" The two browsed through the different many different arrays of clothes, it went on and seemed endless. "Hmm, but Subaru already bought me this one… and I don't really want to let it go to waste..."

"Eh? Then we can just add some accessories to it!"

Straw hats, sunglasses, and bracelets, Naoko gave Satella everything, "Isn't this a bit much?" She didn't really pay much attention to her, she just grabbed more and more and shoved it into the trolley, "Nonsense, there's no such thing as too much when it comes to clothing!"

"A-Alright!"

Naoko forcefully put them on her, not giving her a chance to even speak. "Uwaa~ You look so cute Ella" Naoko snapped some pictures and she dragged her over to the counter, picking up a few more as they made their way. "Hmm, I wonder what we should get next? Oh, Ella, do you have a phone?"

"N-No, we don't have phones in my world, and Subaru had to give his phone away during a negotiation"  
"Then we'll just have to buy you two a pair!"

.

While the two ladies were enjoying their shopping, the others were at the cinema watching a movie, Subaru and Beatrice managed to sneak Isumi out in fear of the gunshots triggering her trauma or something. With Subaru returning back inside to watch with his dad.

"This is a fascinating world, I suppose..."  
"But I think Beako-chan's world is pretty nice too!"

"Besides magic, there's little to almost nothing else that Betty's world has that compares to your more modern world, we haven't even figured out that lightning can be harnessed as power yet, I suppose."

The two walked around for quite a long time and they bought some snacks as they continued on with their waiting, "My god, special effects have come a long way!" They suddenly hear, "I know right? When that car blew up, that was even better than a normal car blowing up!" It seems the movie has ended. Subaru and Keinichi were walking out the doors.

"Man, I thought ground dragons were cool, but we still got things over here"

"Oh yeah, you didn't finish your ground dragon talk that day, don't keep me in the dark now!" His father asked enthusiastically, "Well, their pretty much raptors that you ride. they also have the ability called, 'Wind Evasion' that allows them to be unaffected by wind resistance, pretty useful actually..."

"Zero air-resistance raptors? Just how amazing is this other world of yours!?"

"Ahem, I suppose" An annoyed Beatrice coldly stared at the two while tapping her foot on the ground impatiently, "Ahh… sorry Beako, the movie was just a tad bit too good"

"Was it that good that it made you neglect your job as Betty's contractor? I suppose"  
"Oh come on, don't make it sound like It's a drag…"

The group had left the cinema then, going to the place where they agreed to meet up in."Hey, Bakasu~ How do I look?" From behind Naoko, Ella appeared, spinning around in her new accessories, "Oh, that's a nice stylish look you have there" Keinichi said. She looks over to Subaru, expecting a compliment. He was about to give her one when the wind suddenly blew over, taking her hat over with him.

"Woah, easy there" An unseen hand sprouted out and grabbed the hat before it went any farther, he puts it back on her head with a pat, "It looks good but you could have chosen something heavier, those won't get blown away very easily…"

"I guess you're right…"

They all ventured through the city some more, with Subaru getting his new phone. They all took pictures in various places and sadly, the day passed on quickly. They all went back home and celebrated with dinner.

* * *

 **[Part 5: Farewells]**

"We'll be back soon, so please survive their overprotectiveness until then, I suppose..."  
"Yes, I will try my best, Beako-chan!"

It was finally the day they returned, there was a rather heavy atmosphere but it was drowned out by Subaru and his dad's bickering, "You better come back with an album of things! I really wanna see these ground dragons ya hear! Oh, and don't forget to bring back some food for us to try out!"

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be sure to bring back some pictures and souvenirs of all kinds"  
"And next time, we'll come and visit you!"  
"Absolutely not…"

Subaru opens up the inter-dimensional rift back up, "Right then see ya mom, dad, sis..."

"You go get em, son!"  
"Stay safe okay, Subaru..."  
"Teach me magic next time, brother!"

"Yeah, will do!" They gave him one last hug, Isumi joined in and they parted. "Hey, Ella-chan!" Naoko called out before she entered the rift"Eh?" "Please take care of Subaru okay! He can be a handful but please do continue to look after him!"

Satella giggled in delight and replied, "Hehe, you bet!" Parting with a thumbs up, the rift started closing, she quickly got herself to the other side, waving goodbye to them, Naoko starting to shed tears, while Keinichi and Isumi tried to console her.

The rift fully closed and they couldn't see them anymore. they were back in the bubble filled the void, the only difference is, the bubble that was connected to the platform they were on was right next to them, probably due to minimizing the time distortion between worlds.

"So, let's go"

Like last time, Subaru touched the bubble and a tear appeared, from the other side they could see a mansion, grass recently watered, it was definitely Lugunica. They all stepped out one by one and the rift disappeared.

"Ahh... good to be back home I guess. Right Subaru, Betty?"  
"Well, I wanted to stay a little longer but eh, I guess it's good to be back..."

"Subaru!" He stopped in his tracks at the silver laced voice, looking to where the voice was, they saw Emilia, a happy smile on her face. Though, that deteriorated a bit when she had her sights on Satella, "E-Emilia-tan, we're back…" Subaru said nervously.

"Subaru, who's that?" She asked.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Looks like we got 4k more words in this chapter compared to last time! Yay me...**

 **[EOC time]**

 **[Red]:** No one is updating their fics!  
 **[ReviewR524]:** At this rate, we'd be the only ones left...  
 **[Red]:** This is perfect, with this, we can shape the future, we'll dominate the fanfic fandom and-  
 **[ReviewR524]:** Make everyone hate Rem?  
 **[Red]:** Exactly! My master plan will be seen through!


	9. Chapter 8: An Invitation

**Warlock of Sin. Arc 2: Convocation of Sin**

 **Chapter 8: An invitation**

"...And so when I was in the tomb, I stumbled upon her, and then all sorts of things happen, it's all complicated but to sum it up, she's gonna have to stay with us until we deal with the real Witch of Envy…" Subaru explained to Emilia all of Satella's circumstances, with her sitting on the ground, in an almost pleading manner.

"Please, Emilia-chan… Even if it's just for a little while..."  
"I-I understand…"

It was all a little hard to take in for her, but just barely grasping the situation, she accepted it as it is, or more that she just trusts Subaru on this, "Emilia-chan, thank you!" She said while hugging her tightly, "Even though I caused you so much trouble! Ah, your so kind I want to cry!" Refusing to let her go, Satella clung onto Emilia for dear life, making it kind of uncomfortable.

"But still, I didn't think we'd look so alike…"  
"Yeah, we're like twins, right?!"

'What's with that sudden attitude change…' Subaru muttered.

* * *

After that whole discussion in secret, Subaru and Emilia had returned back to the mansion. Beatrice went ahead to inform the rest and so she wasn't with them. As they reached the front door everyone was there, awaiting their arrival, minus Roswaal and Beatrice it seems.

"Yo guys, I'm back!"

Greeting everyone with a gleeful smile, he entered through the mansion's large doors, "Boss yer back!" Garfiel leaps our first, high fiving Subaru. "So, you all been well? I don't see Otto anywhere, did he finally hit his limits and made it back to mother nature?"

"I see you and the first thing I hear coming from your mouth is something like that, it really does make me feel unappreciated… ah, how cruel life is…"

"Hey, don't worry there bud. For now, go and rest, I've even got you all presents!" He said while showing everyone the bags he's been carrying on his arms. He's bought many things for them all, they all lined up to get their presents, Emilia already getting hers before they entered the mansion.

"I got some sunglasses for Garf"  
"Woah, what are these?"  
"Glasses that make you look super cool when you wear them"  
"Really?! Nice!"

"For Petra, I've bought you a box of ribbons"  
"So many colors!"  
"Now go look cute"

"For Otto, I've got a box of pens, trust me, they're much better than the ink and quill"  
"I'm a little skeptical about this…"

"For Rem… A nice and cozy jacket!"  
"Rem shall cherish this jacket forever!"

"For Nee-sama…"  
"Hmph, Ram is ready for the worst"  
"A matching nice and cozy jacket!"  
"...!"

"And Fredrica… I got you some strawberry cotton candy, it's delicious and still nice and fresh"  
"S-Strawberry?! Subaru-sama, you really shouldn't have!"

With all of them enjoying their gifts, Subaru and Emilia made their way past them, with Emilia smiling at the tiara at her hand. "Ah, Subaru, I forgot to tell you. Someone from the Anastasia camp will be coming over here"

"Really now? Something happened with the alliance?"  
"No, nothing bad, it seems they have a solution to our crystal problem…"  
"Ooh, that's good, I need to have a word with Puck as soon as possible

As they walked on forward, they saw Annerose, with Clind following closely behind her, "Ah, there you are Annerose, I've got you something… here" Reaching down into his plastic bag, he took out a headband, one that was oddly similar to Emilia's, it even had her matching white rose on it.

"To think I'd get something like this from you of all people..."  
"Even though I dislike it, you're the only other Emilia-tan fan..."  
"Well, that would be true…"

"Yo Clind, think fast" Lobbing over an object at Clind's direction, he reacts hastily, "What's this, Affirmation…" the object was pocket sized and it was metallic, Clind examines it and found out that there were things inside that could be flipped out, "A pocket-sized multi-tool, try it out, it's great"

"Many thanks, Subaru-sama, Appreciation..."

Making their way past them to what could only be a conference room, "So they're coming soon huh, Anastasia herself not going to show up?" Emilia shakes her head to Subaru's question, "It seems she is somewhere else at the moment"

With couches placed in a circular manner, this conference room could very much be confused for a casual place to hang out in, "Might as well get some things prepared, Rem!" As he called the maid from inside the room, the door flung open, "Yes, this is Subaru-kun's Rem!"

"Woah, that's a new record…"  
"For Subaru-kun, Rem wouldn't dare be a second late"

Rem entered the room with a bow, she was wearing the jacket Subaru had given her, Subaru sighed internally, he expected she would do that, "Since we're having visitors, we might as well get some snacks ready yeah? Also, is Ros-chi around?"

"Roswaal-sama is currently absent, he had been called in for some matters relating the ownership of the western lands, he will be back shortly, but Rem is afraid he might not make it in time for our guests… Rem shall prepare some sweets for the guest's then"

"Ah, and one more thing, is it really okay to be using your jacket while you work?"  
"Fredrica Nee-sama and everyone else is occupied with Subaru-kun's wonderful gifts, so they won't mind… but if Subaru-kun dislikes it, Rem will gladly admire it from a distance in Rem's closet…"

"Oh no no no, it's alright, you don't have to do that…"

After a bit of waiting in the conference room, they were informed that the representatives of Anastasia's camp had arrived, and then they entered the room, "Woah, what's this!? Julius junior or something?" A young purpled haired boy walked into the room, with a smaller hooded figure beside him.

"My goodness, Nii-sama did say to look out for a man like you, but he never told me that the man would be this rude! To think that such a man has equal standings with Nii-sama..."  
"Well that's Julius's problem isn't it, I thought he'd insult me a little bit more though, "Look out for a whiny evil-eyed man who doesn't know his place" or something like that, guess that's too much for a knight"

"Subaru, haven't you made up with Julius yet? It's not nice to stubbornly refuse him all the time you know?"

"Emilia-tan is too innocent, my future advancements will all be in grave danger if this proceeds! In all seriousness... It's not like I don't wanna get along with him, it's just it'll be kinda awkward with everything that's happened you know? It's like when a villain that goes 'I'll kill all your loved ones' suddenly becomes your roommate"

"Then you should quell that distance already, geez, both of you acting like that, you both really are like children"

"You have no right to say that when you're no less of a child mentally, Emilia-tan…"  
"I understand your anger Emilia-sama but please direct your anger towards me and not Nii-sama…"

"Speaking of you... we haven't done introductions yet, guess that's my bad. You probably already know from Julius, who should be whining about how much I suck compared to him, but I'm Natsuki Subaru, Emilia-tan's horrible, but very reliable knight! And I'm taking that your Julius's little brother right?"

"Hmph, Nii-sama is a busy man who doesn't have time to talk about a man like you… I'm Joshua Jukkulius, and indeed I'm Nii-sama's little brother. It may come out as a little rude, but I'm afraid I can't see you as the people make you out to-"

"Geez, can you just be quiet Joshua! You and Mimi came to invite them, not fight them!"  
"B-But Mimi…"

"Woah, it's second in command! I had a feeling it was you"  
"Hello Mimi-chan, nice to see you again"

"Hmph, Mimi wanted to surprise you all by hiding as Onii-san hid from Emilia-sama, but Joshua just had~ to start a ruckus now does he! Seriously, Mimi should have just come by herself if you were going to go like this!"

As the kitty demi-human scolded the formally dressed boy, the other two already took their seat. Just then, the door opened up once again, "Haah, sorry i'm late everyone, you didn't start anything yet, did you?" It was Otto, seems like he had to run over, Garfiel was with him, wearing the sunglasses Subaru gave him.

.

"So, regarding Emilia-sama's request, we have found a person willing to sell a gemstone of high purity to you for a reasonable price..." Joshua apprised to them. "Their base of operations is located in the Watergate city, Pristella, and Anastasia-sama was thinking of hosting an alliance get together there... of course, it is your choice to accept our invitation..."

"A get together in the Watergate city… what do you think, Otto-kun?"  
"Well, it'd be rude not to accept the invitation, and if we're to buy the crystal, we'd need to visit there anyway"

"Yoho, can I ask a question..." Subaru says while raising up his hands, bringing all attention over to him, "Are we expecting Crusch-san to come as well?"

"Yes, they have already accepted the invitation..."

"Then the reason Anastasia-san isn't coming here personally is because?"  
"Anastasia-sama is already in Pristella, she's taken a liking to one of the Inns in the city, it reminds her of Kararagi, as she says"

"Otto, how long would it take to reach Pristella from here?"  
"It'll take about ten days by carriage"  
"A little over a week huh…"

Putting a cookie in his mouth he rests his chin on someone's head, "Ten days is a pretty long road trip… isn't it Beako? What do you think?" Tapping the head of the spirit on his lap, "After just returning from a tiring trip, do you really think Betty would want to go on another one, I suppose?" The spirit replied in a rather exhausted tone.

"U-Um…" With her sudden entrance into the conversation, Joshua finally took notice of the spirit, "Sorry to sound rude, but who are you again?"

"What's this, I suppose? You dare forget about the almighty Betty? Even after Betty was kind enough to introduce myself to everyone, I suppose" A flashback to a month ago right after the subjugation of the white whale and the witch cult's sin archbishop of sloth, when everyone was celebrating the victorious battle. When the awards for subjugation were being handed out, Subaru went up the stage with Beatrice, prompting her introduction as a great spirit to the public.

"Okay, enough of that… Anyway, if you've already forgotten, this is Beatrice, my contracted spirit"

With Joshua looking rather skeptical on the two of them, the meeting went on. Ultimately, the Emilia camp had agreed on coming to the so-called 'get together', and after a little small talk, the two rivaling camp representatives left.

.

They all saw the Anastasia camp off as they left the mansion. The rest of the day was rather uneventful, with nothing new happening other than everyone enjoying their new gifts from Subaru.

While everyone was doing that, Subaru and Beatrice were outside, practicing magic and the like when suddenly, a gust of wind kicked in, "Hah, well look who's back" The two look over to the source and they saw a jester floating down from the air, it was Roswaal. He looked rather fine, it seems his healing has gone well, there were no more bandages on him.

"Why~ hello, Subaru-kun. You've returned safely, I'm glad for that. So, how~ goes your trip back home?"  
"It was pretty good actually, a little refresher from the usual happenings around here"  
"I see~ so, did I miss anything by chance?"

"Two people from the Anastasia camp came in while you were gone, they say they have a solution to our Puck problem, says to head over to Pristella, wherever that is… She seems to be holding an alliance get together as well, so the Crusch camp will also be there apparently"

"Hmm, when we~ planning on leaving?"  
"A few days from now actually…"

"Ah, that might be a little problematic for me, you see~ Tomorrow is the meeting of the western landlords so I won't be available for three weeks, quite saddening, I~ would've loved to join you all… and I also have to bring Ram and the little one as well"

"How unfortunate, well, your a busy man so I guess that can't be helped" Putting his hands in his pockets, Subaru turned around and headed inside with Beatrice, Roswaal slowly following behind, his face was stuck on Subaru, and his eyes narrowed, though he sighed after and forgot about whatever he was thinking just then.

After the whole camps reunion, dinner commenced and soon came the plan for who would go and who would stay, after that, everyone retired to their rooms and the night went on.

Subaru laid there in his bed, asleep, Beatrice was sleeping beside him, it was peaceful, though it wasn't uneventful. The crystal on the table glowed dimly as a figure appeared, it was Satella. "Hwah, I just can't sleep right now can I… hah, might as well just walk around for a bit…" Opening out the window, she lifted her dress up and leaped out of the window, falling down rather slowly.

As the wind blew past her hair, she hummed in a low tone, making sure no one heard her. She found a spot rather shaded from anyone's sight but still rather open and she sat down, crossed leg, letting out a breath and took one in, "The night is really good out here…"

She doesn't know how long, but she has been stargazing for a rather long time, humming a tune to herself as she did so. Though unbeknownst to her, there was someone else stargazing with her, "Hm-hmm, hm humm- eh?" Stopping her tune she looked up from her lying position and she definitely saw someone, she too was gazing at the sky.

"E-Eh… Emilia-chan how long have you been sitting there…"  
"Huh? Oh, quite a while actually… ah, sorry, did you p-perhaps wanted to watch by yourself"  
"No no, that's not the problem here, you could have at least said something, I thought I was caught or something you know"

"Ah… then, if it's okay with you, S-Satella, can I stay for a bit?"  
"Of course! But please, call me Ella, I want to drop off my old name for a new one you see"

Getting up and scooting beside her, the two of them continue to gaze at the stars together, and with that, the night went on...

* * *

A/N

Took a long time to edit, but I'll try and quicken up the pace a little. Also, Kudos to 1208Glass, I've updated this chapter (and the one before) according to your suggestion! Presents for everyone!


	10. Chapter 9: Through the Gates

**Chapter 9: Through the Gates**

"Okay, so Petra, Ram, Frederica, and Roswaal have already left to some meeting of the lords or something, that leaves the rest of us to go to the camp get together at Pristella, anyone has any plans they need to take care of before we go?"

Everyone replied shaking their heads, "Good, then we'll leave tonight".

* * *

"Fuuuuu... ten days is longer than I thought it was..."

Subaru was in the driver's seat, he was in his orange and dark gray, customized knights uniform. He, Otto, and Rem were to alternate being the driver at set intervals as to keep their sanity away from boredom. It has been more than eight days, and they still had two more to go, but each day just kept on getting progressively longer.

"Even though it does seem the days are elongated, it's relaxing, I suppose..." Beatrice said as she laid on his lap, leaning onto his chest. Her face showing a calm and carefree smile.

"Your not the one driving, Beako..."

He yawned, the sun had set hours ago and the next stop didn't seem to be anywhere in sight. Most of the people are already asleep, with Otto being the exception as he was to switch in the next hour.

"How's the witch, I suppose?" Beatrice asked in a whispery voice.

He grabbed the crystal around his neck and examined it, the light it gave off oscillates between dim and bright, and he heard nothing but light snoring occasionally. "She's definitely asleep, she would've begged me to let her out if she wasn't..."

"I suppose..."

Remove the fact that he had to concentrate the road and it really was relaxing, the calm rustling of the leaves, chirping from the night critters, the occasional evening breeze that flows by when the Divine protection of Wind evasion reaches its limits.

"Wonder how long this will last..."  
"When you put it like that, It seems you're sure it won't last, I suppose..."  
"There's trouble wherever I go, can't stop that... though I hope it's not too much for us to handle..."  
"Hmph, with Betty, nothing is impossible, you know"

"Yeah, yeah, because your the almighty, the all cute, Beako," He said while patting her head.

Just after, Otto appeared from the behind them, "Okay, time to switch Natsuki-san, the next stop is still a ways ahead, maybe it'd take till morning so you should rest"

"Right then" He hopped back into the carriage after giving him the reins, "Make sure you don't sleep on the job and get us lost or something"

"I assure you, Natsuki-san, that-" He had already gone inside and closed the hatch, "Hey are you just going to ignore me?!" "Quiet Otto... everyone's asleep..." He sighed and turned back towards the road.

And with that, two long days pass.

* * *

"Woaho... this definitely doesn't look like what I had first thought...!"

They had entered the city of Pristella, from the outside, one could say that it looks like some sort of locked down asylum or prison, but once you got a look at the inside, it could be comparable to the Italian city of Venice, actually, it was exactly like Venice, waterways, boats, only difference would be house structure.

"Yeah, this is amazing, Subaru!"  
"Rem is glad to have come along..."

'Hey, Ella? Why quite all of a sudden, the sight too much for you?'

No reply, was she still sleeping? Ever since they entered through the gates, a sense of absence was eminent from the crystal on his neck, as if something had happened.

'Um... Ella?'  
'Witch cult activity confirmed... Subaru, please proceed with caution, warn the defense units...'  
'Hmm... got it...'

.

They proceeded to go through the city, the streets weren't too narrow but it would've been easier to travel by water. Subaru was atop the carriage with Rem, Beatrice, and Garfiel, these four were responsible for the protection of the group.

"Right... gonna sound a little sudden and shocking, but I sense witch cult presence in this city..."

"Witch Cult..."  
"Them damn cultists ey..."

They didn't give too much of a shocked expression. They were more of a battle ready, motivated ones. Seems they were expecting something like this to happen.

"Right, I don't think it was a trap set up by Anastasia... she's already here so she'd be risking herself if she decided to trap us here..."

"The Witch-cult probably got that our camps are in an alliance, Subaru-kun... so maybe they had people try to leak information and planned an ambush"

Highly possible, but with the three camps, each having commendable fighting power, with the addition of a mercenary team, and the guards of a city, it wouldn't be easy for them to land an ambush attack, so all they have to do is play cautiously.

"Right then, let's keep this from Emilia and the others to keep things calm... the moment one cultist pops up, our job is to protect Emilia got-"

"Subaru! We're here!"

He heard the silver bell voice from under the carriage, he saw that they were in front of a traditional, Japanese style building, 'The water plumage Inn' is what was written on the sign. They all got off and noticed that several people were looking their way, "Guess it's not every day that you see a bunch of people on the roof of a carriage... anyway, that's it for now, meeting dismissed"

"Okay then, I'll bring the ground dragons over to stables, you should go ahead..." Otto said

He proceeded to lead the Patarasche and Verhoe over to the side. "Glad yall came" they were then suddenly greeted by a woman in white, with wavy lavender hair and wearing a fox scarf, it was the host, Anastasia Hoshin, beside her was her knight Julius, who just bowed.

"Thanks for inviting us, Anastasia-san... and... Julius... eh? Who's that Julius look alike" Subaru asked while pointing at the young boy beside Julius.

"Oh, this is my younger brother, Joshua Jukulius, it is good to see you've recovered from the paralysis, Subaru, and it's nice seeing you again, Emilia-sama, Great sprit Beatrice, Garfiel-dono, and Rem-do..."

Rem's stern gaze stopped his sentence, "Rem-dono... is truly loyal to you, Subaru" "Yeah, yeah, listen, I'm still not over that fight you hear? One day, I'll take you down Julius, someday... but not today, you better get ready till then"

He chuckles seeing Subaru's usual attitude towards him, "To think that such a person has standings even close to Nii-san...", Joshua, who was wiping his monocle, interrupted "Joshua, even though Subaru acts the way he acts, you shouldn't show any disrespect, it would hurt the name of the Jukulius family and Anastasia-sama's image"

"Ah yes, you are right, Nii-san... I apologize for my disrespect... Subaru-dono... but I still think you have a long way before you reach my brother, in both strength and knightliness"

"Pfft, you think I want to be something like that? Yeah sure he's, 'The Greatest Knight' to you and the rest of the kingdom, but to me, he's just Julius, nothing less, nothing more...

Subaru turned over to see the Inn they were going to stay at, "Haah... well building somewhat nostalgic..." he said while thinking back to his time in his own world just a few weeks ago.

"Nostalgic you say? This is a Kararagian style Inn, for it to be nostalgic means you must have originated from Kararagi, yes?" Julius suggested.

"Well... not really, it's nostalgic but it's not like all the houses in my place were the same as this one, we'd say that this is... a traditional style, not a modern one... anyway, enough talking, let's go inside"

Subaru came in first, with Beatrice and the rest following behind, to his the surprise, the interior almost exactly matches the ones back in Japan, wooden flooring, sliding paper walls, they were all there.

Anastasia brought them to one particular room, by the looks of the door, it was much larger than the rest, they also heard familiar voices coming from the other side. She opened the sliding door, "Sorry for intruding yall, but the rest of em just arrived"

On the other side, Wilhelm, Felix, and Crusch were seated on the floor, around what seems to be a rather large coffee table. "Subaru-dono, Emilia-sama, please come in" Wilhelm greeted them as he gets up and bows.

"Hah, seems you got here before us, Wilhelm-san, Ferris, Crusch-san" Subaru enters and waves to them.

.

With Otto now present, they were all seated around the table, sipping tea and eating pastries. "So Natsuki-kun, it's a bit late but congratulations on defeating the Hakugei and the Witch cults Sloth"

Hearing that, he nearly spat out the tea in his mouth, "E-Eh? Why are you congratulating me? Wilhelm was the one who took down the whale and Julius took down the Betelgeuse with Beako's help, I barely did anything, you know"

Wilhelm shook his head, "If it weren't for Subaru-dono's participation in the Hakugei conquest, none of it would be possible, I myself would have most likely fallen" "That's right Subaru, it's with Sloth as well, you were able to see through his authority, which gave us a huge advantage" Julius added.

"Tch, even you..."

"Natsuki Subaru, though you did contribute the least in combat, you exerted the most effort out of everyone, taking the role as bait, it takes not only courage, but resolve as well, you should take pride in that, Hero of the Hakugei Subjugation..."

"Yeah, from what I heard, Subaru did a lot of cool things, I almost thought they were trying to trick me or something..." Emilia chimed.

"Come on, I can barely do anything, all this congratulatory stuff..."

"I recall you saying something about taking down Elsa Greinhart, the guthunter, and there was also the Great rabbit you reported the other day, I wouldn't call that barely anything, Subaru..."

"Natsuki-san, what about the time when you redirected all the mabeast away from us, we thought you were gone for, to take down about fifty on your own, you can't say your powerless..." "Yeah Boss, my amazing self's was gonna help out but ya finished it before I even got there"

"Of course, Subaru is Betty's contractor, after all, you shouldn't expect any less from him, I suppose" He clutched his head flustered, "Dammit, Rem please say something..."

"Subaru-kun is weak and makes foolish decisions many times..." He sighs, finally getting something that isn't praiseworthy, "But even though, Rem can't help but love you..." She said embarrassed.

"Argh... where's Ram when you need her..." He said, sending laughs everywhere.

* * *

After an hour the Emilia camp left to go do their business with the Muse company, the one who was selling them the crystal. They were going to travel there by water but, "Subaru can't go on a boat, I suppose..."

"Sorry guys, I'm highly prone to seasickness... so I'll just walk there"  
"Should Rem accompany you?"

He pulled her over to the side, "Only the two of us can sense the witch cultists, so one of us has to stay with Emilia, okay Rem" "Yes, you are right Subaru-kun..."

.

"Please stay safe Subaru!"

"Beako's with me, nothing can go wrong!" He shouted as he waved them goodbye. "Right then Beako, let's go!" "You're not forgetting about me are you?"

From behind them, Satella appeared, wearing a gray cloak that concealed her body and most of her face. "Oh, was wondering when you'd show up... alright then le-"

"Let's go!" she said as she dragged him by the arm. "That witch is so annoying, I suppose..." She mumbled as she followed behind.

"Right, date number two!"  
"What did I say about being unwillingly dragged into a date?"  
"That it's the only way you'd do it, hehe"

.

Detour after detour, they eventually got lost during their exploration.

At some point during their search, they had entered a park to look for someone to ask directions from. The park was relatively empty compared to the number of people they've passed by.

"Hey Subaru, I'm getting good vibes from that direction, must be something big going on there, let's check it out!"

"Hmm... not too su-"

Without giving him a chance, she just dragged him and Beatrice over in that direction, he didn't resist as that would normally result in attention being directed towards them, something he definitely didn't want to happen.

The 'good vibes' she felt lead them to a fountain, a crowd of people surrounding it. On the fountain, the three saw a girl, she had blonde hair, her skin was tan, and she held onto a stringed instrument, in Lugunica, it would be called a Lyulyre, something closely resembling a ukulele.

"Looks like a performance... ahh, it seems so calming," Satella said as she said to the song, Subaru and Beatrice could do nothing more than to nod along as they quickly fell into the trance as well.

The song she was singing was a classic Lugnican song, Subaru has heard a few of the verses before but he has never caught the name of the song, which was a little irritating.

.

After the performance, the crowd spread out through the park leaving just her and the three of them, "So, how did you three like the song?"

"Oh it was great, ah, it was like lying down on a cloud as it was gently pushed along by the wind... you wouldn't by chance have a divine protection of serene singing or something do you?" Satella said as she bombarded her with compliments.

"Aha, well, I do have the divine protection of telepathy, I can relay my feelings to you all and evoke positive emotions~, it's great for a traveling minstrel like me!" she said while making a thumbs up notion to them, "So? You guys needed something?"

"Yeah... we were looking for the Muse trading company... but kinda got lost, hehe..." Subaru said as he scratched the back of his head, "It would be wonderful if you could show us the way, or at least give us some directions..."

"Kiritaka-san's place? Oh yeah, I can show you there, I'm done here anyway, come, come, it's over this way!" She said as she sprinted over to one of the gates.

"This girl... is also annoying, I suppose..."  
"Oh come on Betty she's sweet"  
"She has that lucky-go-happy attitude, could be annoying sometimes...".

* * *

"So, I don't think I've introduced myself, I'm Liliana, a traveling bard! I go where the wind takes me, all over the continent to spread the achievements of people through poems and songs!"  
"Betty is a great spirit, I suppose..."  
"I'm Ella, nice to meet you, Liliana-san!"  
"Natsuki Subaru..."

They continued walking a few more steps until, "Wait... N-Natsuki Subaru?!" "Yep, that's m-" "As in the Lolimancer! T-The knight of the Emilia camp!?"

She literally started yapping about him, it seems news in Lugunica travels faster than he thought, it was only a month since their camp has been interviewed for the Royal selection, and it seems he's already got his name popularised, it being the 'Lolimancer'.

The people around them all started mumbling about him, he heard the words 'Witch' and 'Little girl user' mixed in which made his face go sour.

"Hey! Don't just scream that out, some people aren't comfortable with the names other people give them ya know!?"

"O-Oh, I'm sorry, i-it's just, I ever since the royal selection began I've always wanted to go see Emilia-sama, she must have had a hard time with all the prejudice, I had to see how she endured through all that, but sadly i'm stuck here in Pristella because of Kiritaka-san and then there's this and that and..."

"Whatever happened to that 'all over the continent' thing you said about yourself?" Subaru mumbled.

"So anyway, we're almost there so let's hurry up!"

She started to make a run for a rather large building, if that wasn't the building, they wouldn't know what is, "H-Hey! Liliana! Don't just run off like that!" the three then rushed behind her.

.

"Haah... so this is it?"

The three stopped at the gate, panting, trying to catch their breath, Lilianna could be seen making a run for the stairs, completely forgetting that there were people she had to lead.

Subaru nudged Satella, tapping on the purple crystal on his neck, signaling her to go back in. She just nodded and silently dissipated into light particles.

"So let's go then?"  
"Carry Betty, I suppose..."  
"Hm? Hey, I'm tired too you know..."

He took her and lifted her up to his shoulders, and he proceeded to walk through the open doors.

"Do you have an appointment sir?" The front desk clerk asked.

"Yeah, I'm Natsuki Subaru, part of the Emilia camp, gotta meeting with... Kiritaka Muse if I remember correctly, I'm kinda late but I'm sure they've told you that I'd be coming..."

"Oh yes, it's the second left room on the third floor"  
"Right, thanks!"

He made his way up the stairs and he finally caught up to Lilianna who was now out of breath, "Heh, took you a while to get tired... so this is the third floor, second room to the left would be..." He approached one of the doors, but suddenly they opened by themselves.

"Thank you very much, Kiritaka-san"  
"The pleasure is mine, Emilia-sama"

Emilia, Rem, Garfiel, Otto and a man with pale gold hair came out of the room. This was probably Kiritaka Muse. "Ah Subaru, your late, we've already finished the business discussions," she said in a rather pitiful tone.

To Subaru, it didn't really matter, he was actually glad it was over, those kind of things were boring and he'd just screw them up anyway. A breathless Liliana came up to them, dragging her feet on the ground.

The moment Kiritaka set her eyes on her, his calm demeanor deteriorated into one of shock and utmost rage, "Liliana! Stay away from you!" with his sudden outburst he went back into the room and came out holding a blue gem. To everyone's surprise, he literally threw it at Subaru, who was momentarily stuck in position.

It went straight to his face. For a throw that was panic-filled and sudden, it was quite good. He had no way of dodging this, he can't put a rift in front of his face fast enough so the only thing he could do was just stand there.

'Too slow...'

Just before it got to him, the blue gem just tilted away from him, as if a strong gust of wind had hit it, or, to be more precise, a strong gravity-like force had changed its trajectory away from Subaru. It kept on going until it reached the ground, where the carpets cushioned the fall.

"What a lousy shot... I suppose..."  
"Hey! I get your paranoid and stuff but could you at least consider where you're throwing things! I've got a little girl on my shoulder here!"

Kiritaka, who wholeheartedly just ignored Subaru, brought Liliana into the room he had just come out of, from the other side, everyone could hear him screaming out worrisome questions. Then, a white-cloaked man came out from the room and bowed to them.

"Apologies for his sudden outburst, when it comes to the Songstress, he can get a little... out of hand, since our business is done, it's best you leave before the problem escalates..."

"No problem with here, right guys, let's go"

Subaru said as he leads the rest down the stairs. They made their way outside and Subaru snapped his fingers, a rift to the Water Plumage Inn opening behind them, it surprised Otto and Garfiel. They questioned how he was able to use that, he just shrugged it off as gate crossing.

"You guys go ahead, I have some business to do elsewhere"  
"Hmm? Where you goin?"  
"Pristella is a merchant city and is a great place to make connections..."  
"So your gonna do Merchant stuff, huh? Right then, don't come back too late... or too drunk..."

Otto waved at them as they went through the rift one by one.

* * *

The rest of the day went by fairly quickly, the three camps discussed about a cure for the Gluttony victims. They figured that if they were to behead the Archbishop of Gluttony, the memories and names of the eaten may return. If that doesn't work, there's the Pleiades Watchtower, a place guarded by the sage Shaula. A place that was rumored to have something that can grant wishes.

As the sun set, everyone went in for dinner, they served some traditional Japanese food, which shocked Subaru and Beatrice. Sadly for Subaru and maybe Beatrice, he had forgotten to bring any mayonnaise, and he didn't feel like rifting back to the mansion in front of everyone, so he had to make due without it for now.

.

"..."

He was now currently outside with Beatrice in a garden. ever since the Sanctuary incident, every evening, Subaru and Beatrice would go out, Subaru would activate **Demonic Rage** and drain the surrounding mana to supply it to Beatrice, that's exactly what they were doing now but just at a lower rate as to keep it unnoticeable.

Subaru was playing around with Minya, making small shapes and other things, it was a form of practice and it got rid of boredom as well. From inside the Inn, Julius, along with Crusch, Felix and Wilhelm came out. They had sensed some mana draining from the atmosphere and came to check out what was going on.

"So it was Subaru-kyun all along... wait, Subaru-kyun, what are you doing! Your gate is still damaged!"

He let the Minya shapes dissipated, he had deactivated **Demonic Rage** and his eyes turned back to its Red-Orange color mix. "It's alright, my gate was fixed a while ago... no problem what so ever..."

"Huh! But how, it's only been a month -nya"  
"Let's say it's a trade secret for now..."  
"NYAA! Subaru-kyun you meanie, Ferri-chan demands you to tell me nyow!"

He pestered while shaking his shoulders, "Nope, not gonna happen..." Seeing that he wasn't willing to budge from his statement, he shrunk back behind Crusch.

"Subaru... I was going to ask you before, but I couldn't find the time, but... your eyes...?"  
"My eyes? Oh yeah, they're starting to get red right? I've been told it has something to do with the Witch genes, turns out I'm pretty compatible with them, I absorbed Sloth's authority when we finished him off... though mine's a little weaker than his..."

He put his hands out, and summoned his Minya blade, he caught it with his hand, only to throw it up, "Invisible Providence..." He mumbled, and a black hand sprouted from his chest, though only he could see it.

The unseen hand caught the blade and he lowered it down, using the unseen hand instead of his own for a farther reach, it baffled everyone, especially Julius. "Quite useful if I do say so myself..."

He trailed off, and it was suddenly silent, "Something has been on your mind, Subaru, I could tell an air of caution has been around you ever since you came here... is something the matter?"

He sighed and took a seat on the bench, "Was thinking if I should tell this to you guys but I guess that's what should've done it in the beginning... anyway, me and Rem had sensed some Witch cultists within Pristella, not sure how many or which group it is, but they seem to be playing within the shadows... didn't want to start a panic so I kinda kept my mouth shut for now..."

"Seems they might want revenge for what we did to Sloth..." Julius said. "Well, whatever the reason, they'd have to get through us before they do anything to the city, keep on guard, anything can happen when the Witch-cult is involved..." He got up and went back in, waving the rest goodnight.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **...**  
 **[ReveiwR524]:** Subaru, if you would choose between being a strategist or a brute-forcer, which would it be?  
 **[Warlock Subaru]:** Your asking someone who has almost no battle experience?  
 **[ReveiwR524]:** Yep, was just wondering  
 **[Warlock Subaru]:** Then... I guess...  
 **[ReveiwR524]:** You take forever, hey Knight Subaru, what about you?  
 **[Knight Subaru]:** Well, from what I learned, I would alternate between the two, depending on the opponent, sadly, playing dirty is a thing of the past since Knight's fight fairly  
 **[Warlock Subaru]:** Author-san, your just going to ignore my answer?  
 **[ReveiwR524]:** You did say you have no battle experience right?  
 **[Warlock Subaru]:** Who's fault do you think that is?!  
 **[ReveiwR524]:** It could be me, or Red, or some of the reviewers who prefer you fight the underdog way, can't really pinpoint the blame...  
 **...**

 **Hey, hey, friends, family, and people who waste their precious time reading my crappy piece of writing, I'm grateful for you to reach the authors note.**

 **I might go on a Hiatus (Break) till 19 March, cause my mocks are starting this Thursday and I heard from my upperclassmen that you absolutely DO NOT want to mess up, anyway, Math is a piece of cake, I could say the same for Chemistry and Physics but then you got the commerce subjects which I suck at.**

 _Wish me luck Pls..._

 **Question: Do you guys say it, [Lugunica] or [Lugnica]?**

 **Anyway, for anyone waiting for a Prepetual Promise update, might take a while cause I'm just dying to write a Witch cult vs Warlock fight scene, so pls be a little bit more patient, this goes for the Forgive me Remake too...**

 **See ya next time, (Red, same as last time, deadline at least a week kay?)**


	11. Chapter 10: The Start of the Show

**Warlock of Sin. Arc 2: Convocation of Sin**

 **Chapter 10: The start of the show**

He was fast asleep on the floor, on top of a futon, this place really was like Japan. He felt light strokes on his forehead, making him open his eyes drowsily, he was met with Beatrice's face right above his, she had a displeased expression, probably because he woke up. "May I ask what you're doing, Beako..."

"Nothing in particular I suppose..."

He lifts his head up and noticed that he was on Beatrice's lap all this time, he gave her a skeptical look, "It's not Betty's fault... you won't stop moving, so Betty had to lend her lap so you would stay calm, I suppose..."

"Huh, fair enough..." He shrugs his shoulders as he throws the sheets up, doing light morning stretches to get his body moving. "Right, so... we got Puck's crystal, which is what we came here for, but we can't just leave, it'd be just rude..."

"Wouldn't it also be quiet heartless to leave the whole city, that might be attacked by the Witch-cult, I suppose?" Beatrice said as she handed him his knight's uniform, walking to the door, looking outside.

"Of course... you know what, a little check around the city for suspicious activities isn't a bad idea, don't you think? We've told the others as well so I guess this will be Witch Cult subjugation number two... may get Emilia some more attention..."

"Two birds with one stone, I suppose?"

"Yep... right, your turn," He said as he gave her a head pat and left the room to let her change from her pajamas.

* * *

The door opened slowly and a man stepped inside. Wearing a white cloak glazed with golden accents, his hair white, his skin fair. The man was neither too tall nor too short, neither too chubby nor too thin, he was what you could say, an average person, no, he was no average person, no average person could achieve this amount of perfection, he was just tall enough, he body was just the right form, he's not average, he's perfect, perfect at being average...

"Finally..." A lecherous and vile voice spat out.

Inside the room, were five other figures, and some several silhouettes standing idle in the background behind them."Quite a surprise seeing you all here… are we to collaborate for another event?" the perfect man said in a voice befitting of his perfection.

"Shut it, harem boy, it's not like I wanna spend time with a bunch of crappy losers. My books been going on about this for days so it's not like I can ignore it. Tch, to think that I have to work with you shits again..."

"Working together… together… in other words, us, we... yes, that's right, we are together, to band together to strive for a single goal, help each other for a single cause, indeed we will be, Regulus..." A voice replied, it was rather feminine and it came from one of the three that sat in the far left, "The more guests there are, the bigger the buffet will be, the bigger the buffet, the faster our stomachs will fill up, and the faster our stomachs fill up, the faster we digest, and the faster we digest, the more we can eat! This is truly the best way to satiate our hunger!"

"We must spread the love that has been bestowed upon us... his love, my love, our love! The gospel is the guidance of love, we were all entrusted with love, we must not fail… absolutely, utterly, impossibly must not! For it is our duty to follow!" Another, rather ear-shattering voice joined in, mechanical and rustic, neither man nor woman, that's what this voice sounded like, a distortion, a replication...

No one was willing to argue with that voice, not that there was much to argue with, besides, they all agreed to the person's sentiment, so there was no need for argument, or at least that was what the man endowed in white thought, "You talk about love? Hah, all love is to be monopolized by me and only me! That love your talking about is all mine you hear… Don't think you can give away something I own!" the woman from before hissed at the voice, though there was no retort.

The cloaked man looked at the person expecting some sort of reaction, but there was nothing, no reaction at all, towards the woman anyway. He watched as the person mumbled out incoherent words to themselves and he sighs "Arguing with her has no meaning in it, it is a waste of time for not only you but the rest of us as well. I've heard she's been like that ever since Sloth's disappearance, having your rights to a person being taken away from you, I do pity that..."

* * *

"Haah... good morning everyone!" Subaru said as he made his way down the steps with Beatrice and into one of lounges. Everyone was waiting there, well not everyone, seems only Emilia, Ricardo, Julius and Otto were present, the others were nowhere else to be seen.

"Good morning Subaru"  
"Yo Bro! Good to see ya fine"  
"Oh... Natshuki-sah... haah..."

With everyone but Julius greeting him, he approached them and sat down the table, "Otto... didn't I tell you not to get too drunk? Ah, it's almost like you never listen..." He said while giving his friend a rub in the back. "I tried... but it'd be- bueagh... rude if the person had already ordered you some..." He said while spinning his head around, Rem probably left due to the lingering scent of alcohol around him Subaru thought, "Man Otto, go bathe the smell out, Garfiel's gonna go mad about it when he gets back you know..."

"I already did... but it isn't going away..." seeing that his hair was still a mess and that his clothes were a bit ruffled, "Yeah, I doubt you've actually taken one today, I mean, I haven't either, but I don't smell drunk... come on, I'll help you up"

He said while putting Otto's arm around his shoulders, helping him up the stairs, "Subaru-dono really is the sociable type isn't he..."

"Yeah, it's just how Subaru is, though I still don't get why he's so stuck up about you, Julius... you guys did make up right? Or was he just lying to me again..."

Julius who was conversing with his spirits until now, sighs, "Yes, we did indeed make up for the incident during the meeting about the Royal selection... but you must understand Emilia-sama, not everyone can just let go of a grudge... he hasn't forgotten about what had happened, and neither have I, to us, it was an important event, though it's importance has different meanings for the other..."

"Ah... anyway, Rem also seems to reflect on Subaru's view but what about you Beatrice?" the attention was now directed to Beatrice, who was fiddling with her hair, she gave Julius a suspicious look, "The fact that he had shamed Betty's contractor is set, thus Betty isn't too fond of the purple haired man... but whenever I try to think badly of him, the thoughts just seemingly float away, especially when he's near, I suppose... it's strange, and Betty doesn't like it, you know..."

"I see... that would be the working of my divine protection of spirit gathering, it just happens to make spirits see me in good light, though making a contract with them requires effort, just not as much as normal"

"That's why you're staying away from my Beako, Julius" Subaru, whose sudden appearance startled everyone, said as he picked Beatrice up and seated her on his lap, "Betty is Subaru's Betty, that won't change, I suppose..." "Oh really? If I remember correctly, when we returned from the capital, I recall you saying 'He will suffice, for now, I suppose', didn't she Emilia-tan" She nodded, seeing where Subaru was going with this.

"T-That was Betty's mistake, I suppose!" she refuted while shaking her head violently. "Even though, it really hurt my heart you know..." "Betty is sorry, I suppose!"

"Yeah, yeah, your cute when you're like that, hehe," He said while patting her head, she replied angrily with several kicks aimed at his legs, which barely hurt since she wasn't wearing any footwear, the others just smiled seeing their interaction. "Anyway... Wilhelm, Julius, ever thought of doing some patrolling around the area?"

Emilia, who was unaware of what was really happening thought that it was just a curious question, but to Wilhelm and Julius, it was a request, "Patrolling the area does seem like a good idea, I recall Garfiel-dono saying something of the sort before Mimi chased after him..." Julius replied.

Out of the four that was in the Emilia camps defense force, Garfiel would be the most experienced in protection so seeing him already a step ahead of Subaru was no surprise. "Okay, I'm thinking of patrolling as well, would Emilia-tan like to join me?"

"Sounds fun, why not?"

Then, the door to the dining hall opened and Anastasia, who was wearing a yukata, came through, "Breakfast is being served, it's first to come first serve so ya better get it while you can"

Hearing that it was time to start the feast, they got up and went to the dining room, he took a whiff of the air and instantly recognized the smell, "This is Rem's cooking isn't it?!" and as they entered the room, they saw Rem doing some final preparations for the table.

"Rem had nothing to do, so she thought to help with the cooking and all... I've also prepared some... mayonnaise for Subaru-kun and Beatrice..."

Hearing that she prepared mayonnaise, both Beatrice and Subaru's faces lit up, "Rem your the best!" "Betty is grateful as well, I suppose..."

* * *

After they're hearty breakfast, the royal candidates went over to have a discussion in the other room, leaving the rest to themselves, they were all grouped around, having they're own discussion.

"So we only have three of these Metia's right now, which is a bit problematic but, we'll manage..." The discussion was about the patrolling they were going to do. "We'll split into four main groups, Julius, Joshua, you go with Rem and Beako to explore the second avenue, Wilhelm can go check the third avenue with some of the mercenary group, Ricardo will look around the fourth avenue with the rest of the Iron of Fangs, and I'll go with Emilia to the first avenue, Otto told me Garfiel went that way too so if we find him we'll fill him in... any problems?"

Instantly Rem and Beatrice raised their hands, "Why should we go with this man, I suppose?"

"Good question, first of all, we don't have enough Metia's so I'll to tell you what happens, then you tell them, then, if anything happens on your side, I want you to tell me, then I'll tell the rest, and lastly, if there's trouble on your end, watch him when he fights..."

Julius, Felix, and Wilhelm sighed while Beatrice and Rem nod diligently, "Okay then, our goal here is to scout and protect when necessary, we aren't going on a full assault, so... try to control yourself, Rem..."

"W-Will do, Subaru-kun...".

"Hah, this is relaxing isn't it Emilia-tan," Subaru said as he sat beside Emilia in the bench, they were in the same park they went to last time and they had just seen the end of Lilianna's late morning concert. "It is relaxing Subaru, but shouldn't we be patrolling?"

"Ah... and my plan to spend quality time with Emilia-tan is ruined... well yeah I guess we should get going then, I'm also feeling for a little snack, what about you, Emilia-tan?"

'Hnnnn...' The purple crystal glowed, the silver-haired girl inside was pouting intensely 'Nope, not gonna let you out Ella, not in such a crowded place, and besides this is my precious Emilia time, you've already had your date'

"Well, I do feel a little thirsty, some water would be nice..." Emilia replied, "Right then" He got up and extended his hand to her, "Let's go, then"

.

They walked around, it's been, maybe around ten minutes and they didn't really find anything. "You'd think there would be more shops around the tourist district, but I guess there aren't any, any good ones anyway..."

"Well it doesn't really matter, we did just have breakfast a few hours ago," Emilia said as she skipped along beside Subaru.

Then a sudden strong feeling came over Subaru, Authority of Wrath was activated, someone was very happy and surprised, another was filled with terror, two people with intense emotions, something must be going on.

'Subaru... I'll set a checkpoint here...' Satella whispered to him.

"Subaru?" Emilia called, noticing that Subaru had stopped in his tracks, "Somethings... somethings wrong... someone's in trouble, Emilia..."

"What? Where?" He showed an 'I'm not sure' face and looked around, she does the same, until...

"Ahhh, excuse me, I humbly apologize for taking your time, and I ask that you forgive me as I truly am sorry, but can you please look over here for just a little while?" A voice shouted out. It was hard to tell whether it was a female voice or a male's, it was kinda mushy, and sounds almost mechanical.

From atop a clock tower stood a cloaked figure, covered in bandages and chains wrapped around their arms, whoever they were, they had successfully grabbed everyone's attention in the vicinity, everyone's head turns over to the figure.

"Yes, thank you for lending me your ear, I truly am grateful to you all..."

Subaru and everyone else in the area found it impossible to look away from the person, it was as if their bodies forced them to see. The figure clapped their hands gleefully seeing that no one was looking or walking away.

"Now, I shall introduce myself... Witch Cult's, Sin Archbishop of Wrath, Sirius Romanee-Conti DESU!"

Her voice boomed through the streets, it was silent for just a second until people suddenly realized what exactly they were dealing with. What did she say? Romanee-Conti... A name that Subaru despised, the name of a madman that he had finished off two months ago, this person, was related to him...

'Subaru!' Satella called out to him, "No need to tell me twice!" He got in front of Emilia and summoned his Minya blade, he could also sense three other people nearby who seemed battle ready, Emilia was still in a state of shock.

Everyone else started mumbling about the Witch-Cult, some screams can be heard, some people even started running away, "I am here to spread the LOVE! That was given to me by that person, today, you will bear witness to that very Love!"

She clapped her hands, "But first, you four, the Wolfman, those two ladies and that young man with the sword, there is no need to be alarmed, besides, what you are about to witness will truly be something you would want to see wholeheartedly!"

Subaru and the other people that were ready to leap for her were shocked seeing that she was able to tell who was going willing to fight from high up there, "So she has Emotion Linkage as well..." 'Be careful Subaru... she's still an archbishop, remember that...'

"Right... H-Hey!" Subaru called out as he went forward, waving his hands, the center of attention now averting to Subaru, "Since you just wanted to show us something... could you just... get it over with? I mean, some of us are really busy... I've got a person that's kinda waiting ya know?"

Hearing Subaru's request, her face lit up with glee, "Why of course! It is quite Again, I apologize if I'm taking some of your precious time... so I shall get this over quickly..."

The crowd that was once all filled with fear was now slightly less filled with fear, Subaru was still cautious about the person and a now recovered Emilia took her place beside him, "Are you sure we can trust her, Subaru..."

'Of course not... but we gotta keep everyone calm for now... we can't fight them properly then, Emilia...' Satella said to the two of them.

They seemed to be picking something from the ground and shows it to the crowd, which made everyone gasp in fear, "This boy, his name is is Lusbel-kun"

"Mmmph! Mmph!"

What they held out truly was a boy, he was taped in the mouth and seemed to be covered in chains, tears of fear leaking from his eyes, "He is nine-years-old, and lives with his father and pregnant mother in the third street, his mother's tummy just recently got larger and so he is really looking forward to being a big brother! He usually goes out to the park with his childhood friend, Tina-chan! They are both childhood friends and love each other dearly, he dreams of one day being an adventurer, with Tina-chan beside him, supporting him... and let's not forget about Tina-chan, I originally was planning on bringing her here, since girls are usually closer to the love I was talking about rather than boys, but Lusbel-kun was brave and desperate pleas to take her position has enraptured my heart! But enough about me... Lusbel-kun, although he cried a little and is slightly scared, he's still a brave boy, and the future he holds... don't you want to see it!"

"Mmph! Mmmph! Mmph!" Lusbel just continued to struggle on the arms of the mysterious person, he tried but ultimately failed, the figure was just waiting for a response from their audience, which she got shortly after.

"Yeah! Don't you go crying, boy!" Someone shouted out.

"Hold your head up with Pride and go for that future!" Another person said.

"Girls don't like it when a man cries ya know!" Subaru joined in.

And in no time, Emilia shot a thumbs up at the boy, several people started clapping, the whole area was shouting praises to the teary-eyed boy, it wasn't just a display of words of advice, or compliment, 'Subaru! snap out of it', but it was an example of human nature, was this the Love Sirius was trying to show them all?

"Sirius-sama, you're absolutely right!"  
"Lusbel-kun! Go make us proud!"  
'Subaru! Snap out of it!'

More and more, they praises wouldn't stop coming, "Gh- Kahh, no, please save me-!" "Yes, Yes! Thank you, everyone, thank you for understanding, Lusbel-kun, I want to commend your courage, your everlasting courage, please look below, look at all the people that are cheering you on, doesn't it fill your heart with passion, seeing all these people supporting you on! Now please give him..."

'SUBARU!' A voice rung in his head, but he didn't pay any attention to it.

"A Thunderous..."

'SUBARUUU!' It rang again, but he didn't even notice it this time.

"Applause!"

She lifted him up into the air, sending him flying up, the cheers didn't stop, in fact, they only grew louder as they boy went higher, then he lost speed and started descending, the crowd gave an exciting gasp while he hurdled down at top speed.

.

.

.

.

.

"NO YOU DON'T!"

Another voice, loud enough that it almost drowned out the screams from the crowd, entered the scene, a flash of purple light and another cloaked figure came in, coming from under the watchtower, she jumped up into the air and grabbed the falling Lusbel, saving him from his imminent doom.

A flip, a twist, and a roll, the two had safely reached the ground with minimal injuries, "Haah... haah... are you okay!" the woman asked, Lusbel could only nod his head hesitantly, his face now showed relief.

"..." The crowd has gone silent after the sudden entrance of the woman, they seemed angry, very angry, "Subaru, Emilia!" she ran up to them, but the two just glared at her. Not seeming to be affected by their gazes, steps forward and a dark aura starts to surround her "I don't want to do this, but it's the only way to snap you guys out of it!" The aura left her body and circulated around the two, suffocating them for a second before dispersing.

"Gaah!"  
"Ugh..."

"E-Ella... did you say... mind control..." Subaru looked around and saw that everyone else was seemingly angry at the three of them, "Subaru... we should attack her while we have the chance... before this escalates any further..." Emilia said while rubbing her head, dizzy from the mind control.

"UNFORGIVABLE!" Sirius screamed out, "How could you stop such a glorious act of courage and Love, you monster! Everyone was cheering them on, bathing him with praise, and you just made it all look like nothing! You unreasonable, you uncanny, unworthy scum, you make me Wrathful!"

"Enough of that shit talk!"

"No, Subaru wait!"

"Your the scum if you think that was glorious!"

Ignoring Satella's calls, Subaru roared out as he rushed forward, gripping his Minya blade tight. He leaped up and set his foot on the tower wall, his eyes turning into a dark bloodshot red, a dark aura surrounding him. He readied his foot and kicked up, sending himself almost halfway up.

Before he started falling, he chanted, "Minya!" A platform made of purple crystals formed under his feet, he used it to launch himself higher, this time, reaching all the way up. The platform dissipated as he set his foot at the top of the watchtower.

"El-Minya!"

Minya bolts shot out from behind him, shooting out to his opponent, she whipped her arms in the air, from the sleeves of her cloak, metal chains extended forward, she swung them in a circular motion towards the bolts and shattered all that was coming her way.

Then, Subaru dashed forward, intending to slice her in half. She made another quick swing prompting Subaru to deflect the chains using his sword, but unfortunately, they just wrapped around his sword, with a sudden pull, the sword was flung off his arms and into the air, far from his reach.

She proceeded to attack again, the chains going straight for him. He raises his hands and several shadows sprouted up, blocking the chains from him. "Unacceptable, you must perish for not accepting the love that I was wholeheartedly showing you!"

"I won't let you hurt Subaru!" Emilia appeared, she was holding an ice sword, something she had learned to do during her combat training, "Hiya!" She charged forward and slashed at Sirius, her chains were still wrapped around the shadows, she spun the chain around her hand and decided to take the hit head-on and so blocked it with her hand.

"Field Distortion"

She felt herself getting heavier, and she fell to her knees, "You end here, right now, Wrath!" Subaru's other free hand swung below the other hand, shadows came rushing under her, he lifted his hands up and spikes erupted from under her, boring holes all over her body.

"It's ove-"

Before he could say any more, he could feel his body getting numb, it was as if he was stabbed in various parts of his body with a large pipe. He fell to the ground, he got a glimpse of Emilia, she was in the same state, blood was spilling from her abdomen, her mouth, her legs, he could also feel himself being drowned in blood, and the next thing he knew, he was dead...

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Since I have no Author notes for this chapter, I'll entertain you with end of chapter conversations.**

[ReveiwR524]: Hmmm, we're doing EOC's again… so last time, we had Knight come in, since he doesn't exist anymore...  
[Pride]: Hey, don't forget about me now? You know, the superior Subaru  
[ReveiwR524]: Ah, yes, you'd make for a fine addition to the EOC  
[Warlock]: Woah, excuse me, did you just say 'superior' Subaru?  
[Pride]: Yeah, got a problem with that small fry?  
[Warlock]: I'll have you know that I'm the superior Subaru if anything!  
[Pride]: Pfft, come back when you've actually killed someone with your own hands you little cry-baby  
[Warlock]: I'll come over there and kill you, then you'll see!  
[Pride]: Killing me is technically killing yourself, that's suicide, so you wouldn't be proving anything  
[ReveiwR524]: Ouch, looks like he got you there...

[Pride] = Re: Life in a fatasy world - Subaru


	12. Chapter 11: Three Purple Eyes

Warlock of Sin. Arc 2: Convocation of Sin

 **Chapter 11: Three purple eyes**

"Hey, Subaru... What's wrong?" Emilia said as she nudged him on the shoulder.

"..." He was stuck in place, completely shocked by his sudden death, an invisible attack? That must have probably been it, he let his guard down and he had paid the price with instant death, Emilia did the same.

"Ella... the hell just happened-"

"Ahhh, excuse me, I humbly apologize for taking your time, so please forgive me as I truly am sorry, but can you please look over here for just a little while?" That same voice, it shouted again, everyone's head jerked towards the watchtower, everyone but Subaru.

"Yes, thank you for lending me your ear-"

CRASH

The place that Sirius was standing on was assaulted by large shadows protruding from Subaru, no, from behind Subaru. A cloaked figure stood beside him, it was Satella.

"Subaru, go get Lusbel, I'll handle Sirius!" She said as a shadows spike formed in front of her and onto the top of the watchtower. She jumped on it and dashed forward. "Lusbel... right, Emilia let's go, I'll explain on the way!"

Subaru grabbed Emilia's hand and followed Satella up the shadow bridge, he could sense other people following him from behind. He looked back and put his hand out, "El-Shamak!" dark clouds enveloped the root of the shadows, stopping anyone from coming up.

He continued to the top and summoned his Minya blade once more, "Emilia, I know this sounds kinda sudden bu- Woah!" His swung his sword back and it clashed with an ice blade, the strike made a high-pitched cling sound.

"E-Emilia, what's wrong!?" He readied his sword in a defensive position, Emilia seeming to be in an attacking position, "Mind control... yeah, forgot about tha-" He quickly ducked his head as Emilia swung her sword at him, he rolled over the side and took his defensive stance again.

"Sorry Emilia, but this may hurt a little bit!" He rushed forward, his eyes turning bloodshot. He swung his sword lightly and Emilia deflected it with hers. In her other hand, an ice dagger was directed straight at him. She thrusts it forward, aiming for his chest, Subaru had to twist his body to the side, barely evading it, he got low and did a low sweep at the ground with his feet.

Hitting her legs, Emilia fell to the ground on her shoulders, her ice weapons shattering as she made impact with the ground. "Emilia, are you okay?" She got up slowly, rubbing her head, "Geez, Subaru, you didn't have to hit me that hard you know..."

"Yeah sorry about that... but, I guess this means I finally beat Emilia-tan in a spar yes?"

"Idiot, I was holding back so that doesn't count anyway, what about-" "Look out!"

Satella was flung to the two of them by Sirius, the three of them tumbling to the edge of the watchtower. "Gh... she's good at close combat too..." Satella gets up and charges once more, in her hands were jet black daggers made from shadows. "Now, what's your deal!"

She tossed them straight at Sirius, she used her forearms to block, cutting through bits of her sleeve, revealing that there was a bundle of chains wrapped around her arms.

"Must be heavy..." Subaru mumbled, "Anyway, there's someone around here Emilia, we have to save them, let's go, Ella will hold Sirius..." Emilia just nodded as Subaru helped her up to her feet.

Satella formed more shadow weapons as she pressurized Sirius, meanwhile, Subaru and Emilia entered the watchtower through an open window, but before they got in they could hear another crash.

"Subaru, you go ahead, I'll help out Satella!" Emilia said as she dashed over to an injured Satella who was slammed into a wall. "Right..."

Subaru hopped into the watchtower, the sounds from the fight outside could be heard echoing inside the watchtower, he looked around the room and found a chained Lusbel crying on the corner. "Mmph!"

"Hey! Don't worry, helps here, we got this under control..." He came over to him and said in a calming voice. If there was anything he was good at, it was calming people down.

The boy was trembling with fear, tears drenched his face as he kept on struggling. Subaru knew that it wouldn't do any good and looked him in the eye, "Listen to me! Everything's going to be okay, got it!" His red eyes stared deep into his and he started calming down.

"Tch, that damn bastard... I get your tying someone up, but you could at least use rope..." He complained as he tried to unwrap the boy from the metal chains.

"Mmph... mmph- Ahh... haah... t-thank you..." He struggled out as he took ragged breathes, "Okay we're getting you out of here, come with-"

"N-No, Tina is still here, we can't leave her!"

Subaru's memory struck him, there was a girl that Sirius was originally going to use, but where is she? Subaru hasn't seen her, and it doesn't seem like she's anywhere here, "Okay, Lusbel, you get down from this tower, I'll find where your friend is... alright"

He nods quickly and struggles over to the stairs.

* * *

"You damn witch, you think you're soo great, you think you can have everything you want, you not only took my husband but killed him as well, for that you'll pay!" Sirius screamed as she lashed at the two silver-haired girls, "I hate you, despise you, your disgusting silver hair, your nauseating voice, your sickening face, I hate it all!"

Her chains shot out like snakes, Emilia summoned a circle of Ice weapons around her and clashed with the chains. "Be careful Emilia, we don't know if she still has something up her sleeves" Satella said as she gasped for breath.

"You can insult me all you want, but my face and my voice were given to me by someone special, and insulting it would mean insulting her, It makes me mad and I can't allow that!" Emilia landed back from her strike and shot out several ice spears at her, Sirius laughed maniacally and simply swatted them away with her chains, "Mad? Does that make you MAD! AHAHAAAAHAA, don't joke with me damn half-witch! You don't know what Wrath means, Wrath is mine, it was given to me by that person, it's mine so you have no right to use it! Everything was taken away from me! Now you want to take away my Wrath! How amusing!"

She whipped her chains one more time and was able to land a solid hit on Emilia, slamming her back prompting Satella to catch her. "Emilia, are you..." A sudden surge of anger can be felt emanating Sirius, it was starting to get hot.

"Behold my Wrath! Authority of Wrath, Fire Chain Control!"

The chains suddenly glowed red hot, scorching the ground as she dragged them towards her. "So that's it huh..." Satella takes a deep breath and prepares herself, "Let's do this together, Emilia!"

The two shot forth, they're weapons in they're hands. Sirius hissed at them and whipped her molten chains at them, Emilia had to block them while Satella swiftly dodges them by sidestepping. She leaped forward with her sword, aiming it at her arms. Sirius blocked it easily but Satella just snickered, the shadow sword suddenly started to cover her arm.

Sirius knocked Satella back and tried shaking the enveloping shadows off but it didn't move, only continuing to cover over her arm.

"ARRRRGH!"

She screamed loudly and her arm glowed a bright orange, and the shadows literally burst into flame, burning parts of her cloak in the process, the fire died out as her purple eyes gleamed with bloodlust.

"Guys, I've called the rest, they'll be here any minute!"

Subaru jumped out of the window, his Minya blade in hand, "We just need to hold up until they arrived!" He dashed forward, he swung his arm chanting, "Minya!" Several Minya bolts fired from his hand, aiming straight for Sirius. She just twisted her body, letting the bolts pass beside her and whipped her molten chains at him.

"Subaru, look out!" Emilia shoved him out of the way, and ice shield on her arm to stop the chains from hitting her. Despite the chains being hot enough to scorch the ground, her ice weapons were durable enough to take two or three hits without melting.

Not giving her a chance to recover, she assaulted Emilia with her chains, and when she finally broke through her shield she slammed her into the watchtower, literally breaking through the wall, "Emilia!" the other two screamed.

Not paying any attention to them, Sirius continued to shoot her chains forth. Subaru got up and tried to go to Emilia but he felt sudden pain on his back, "Ghk... so she can transmit pain... dammit!"

Her endless assault broke down the walls, Subaru just watched with terror, there is no way Emilia would be able to survive such an attack, he would most likely follow her doom very soon.

* * *

"Nothing seems out of the ordinary... do you smell anything, I suppose?"

"No, Beatrice, there isn't any smell of the witch here, fortunately..."

"Then we should further our search, Beatrice-sama, Rem-dono..."

Julius lead the way, the two girls and Joshua following closely behind. 'Beako! First avenue get here quick, Archbishop of Wrath is attacking us in one of the watchtowers!'

"Subaru!"

Hearing Beatrice suddenly says his name, they all turned their heads towards her, "Subaru's in trouble, in first avenue watchtower, I suppose!"

"Let's hurry then, the best Subaru can do is hold on until the others reach there!"

.

Wilhelm walked around the city with several Fangs of Iron members, he was using the conversing Metia to talk with Ricardo until.

"Wilhelm, Ricardo! First Avenue, Watchtower quick ther-"

Before the other side could finish the connection was cut, "Subaru-dono! We must hurry, to the first avenue!"

* * *

Subaru got up and started running to the wrecked area before a burst of wind blew away the dust, "It is quite a problematic scene we have here..." A voice could be heard from inside, "I have come to pick up my bride... and it's a good thing I got here on time..."

A man with a white robe stepped out of the debris, holding an unconscious Emilia in his arms, looking at the three with a smile on his face, "You..." "Sin Archbishop of Greed, Regulus Corneus..."

This can't be happening, was the only thing that ran through Subaru's head, well that and an endangered Emilia. Two archbishops have entered the scene and one was holding Emilia hostage. "Regulus... don't interfere with my-"

"Don't look away from your opponent!" Satella tackled a distracted Sirius onto the ground.

Regulus took a glance at Subaru, he had his sword pointed at him, glaring with his crimson eyes, "You know, your gaze could cause misunderstandings, and that blade posture as well... you should reconsider how you greet someone, if you don't, the other party may get the wrong idea, it would cause unne-"

"Shut up already, ya bastard" Subaru shouted as he ran forward, he got low and landed an uppercut on Regulus all the while avoiding Emilia. He pushed him back only a bit though, and his hand felt like it punched a rock. "Hey... if you don't have the desire to listen to what I have to say, all you had to do was not listen, who gave you the right to take away my right to speak, who do you think you are!?"

"Who in hell gave you the permission to just snatch Emilia away from me!?" Faced with Subaru's undeterring voice his face scrunched up, "I am satisfied with what I have, I am the perfect being, not wanting more than what I need, not needing more than I want! All because I went down the path Fate has chosen for me, this as well, if a couple is destined to be together, nothing should stop them from being together, am I not wrong!?"

"Like hell, if you're right, the only thing that damn gospel tells you is gibberish that no one understands!" Subaru charges forward and does the same movements only this time he jumps up and swings his sword straight at his head, the power of his swing was comparable to Wilhelm's own, which was able to slice straight through the Hakugei's thick hide, there is no possible way he is getting unscathed from this hit.

Clank

His Minya blade broke in half as it impacted his face, acting quickly, Subaru swung his foot at his face and managed to make him roll back.

Regulus just rose up casually, as if nothing ever happened and glared down at Subaru, "That attack just now, it could have killed me have I not used my authority! Do you know what that means? It means you were trying to kill me! That's taking away one of my rights, my right to live, and not only that, it could have hurt my bride!"

"Pfft, as if I'd hit Emilia, and she's not your bride, I don't care what your damn gospel says, I'll defy what's written in that damn book, I'll defy fate, and I'll smush it all over your face, you don't deserve to live, you Witch cult scum! I decide fate, fate doesn't decide me, I'll kill you and all your other Sin archbishops you here me! Natsuki Subaru, Warlock of Sin! Remember that name when I kill you, you bastard!"

He dashed forward, his hands balled up into a fist, "Please forgive me Emilia but... Invisible Providence!" A singular unseen hand sprouted from his chest and struck Regulus square in the face, making him stumble backward. It didn't hurt him one bit, but that wasn't what he was aiming for, he was hoping that he'd drop Emilia so he could save her, but unfortunately, he held onto her tight.

"I've had enough of you, someone who takes away the rights of other's shouldn't be let to live!"

"Likewise! Someone who imposes his rights on other's should die in hell!"

The two glared at each other. Subaru had shadows spiking up from the ground behind him, as well as some Minya bolts prepared to launch. All Regulus did was raise his hand, Subaru shot out the shadows and the bolts and they zipped to him in blinding speed, though he just swung his hand down, and both the shadows were split apart and the Minya bolts were shattering, he could feel an incredibly sharp force heading towards him, whatever it was, it was going to hurt.

Subaru put up his hands and made a purple barrier in front of him, only for it to shatter, he tried to dodge the invisible attack but it was too fast. He felt the force pushing him back with immense force, a straight slash going from his face down to his legs. He smashed through the wall of a nearby building, the force destroying it's supporting and the whole thing started to fall down.

"Subaru!" Satella screamed.

More chains went for Satella, "ARGH-" but they stopped midway. From they're pockets, Regulus and Sirius took out black books, it was they're gospels, "Tch... looks like our free time is up..."

Sirius and Regulus glanced at each other and nodded, they turned around and started walking away, just like that.

Seeing that they weren't going to continue their fighting, Satella turned around and rushed over to the collapsing building, "Subaru!" she dug through the rubble and found Subaru, gasping for air, his body bloodied and his uniform torn, "Hang on" Satella put her hands on his chest and his skin started sealing its cuts, "Gh..." Subaru felt a stinging pain as his tissues started reforming, the word suddenly getting darker, blurrier.

"Subaru-kun!"

"Subaru!"

.

.

.

.

"..."

His eyes slowly opening, several voices entering his ears, he still felt the pain lingering near the closed wounds from his recent battles, not the most effective healing method, but it was quick.

"S-Subaru..."

Hearing his name being called he opened his eyes and sat up, suddenly he was tackled by two people, Rem and Beatrice. "H-Hey! Give a guy some space would ya!"

"Subaru! Subaru! Why didn't you call Betty faster, I suppose!?"

"It's not like I had a choice! Haah, come on, I'm not too hurt so stop crying over nothing!"

After a bunch of sniffling and sobbing the two finally calmed down, he was in a room, on top of a bed, "Where is this?" He said as he looked around the unfamiliar room.

"One of the emergency shelters... we brought you here as fast as possible Subaru-kun..."

"The Witch was fixing your wounds but it still seemed like you were in pain, I suppose"

He sighed and checked himself, his wounds definitely were healed and quickly too, all that was there were the several burn marks he had and some scratches here and there, other than the small sensation of pain on his bones, he was relatively fine. "Right... I'm supposing everyone's here right?"

"The tiger boy and the triplets aren't here, I suppose, but everyone else, minus the candidates and Blue are here, is it a good thing to concentrate all our attack force in a certain area, I wonder?"

Subaru had made a dread mistake, with everyone here, the other places would be left unprotected, but there was nothing he could do about it now. He got up and walked to the door and opened it, on the other side, he sees Wilhelm, Julius, and Ricardo with worried looks.

"What's with the gloomy faces?" Subaru asked.

"Subaru-dono... you are... fine...?" Wilhelm asked stammeringly, "Last we checked, Beatrice-sama said that you had several broken bones... it would take some time for them to recover so..."

"Nah, I'm good, just feel a little bit of strain on some of my ribs, other than that, I'm completely fine... anyway, anything to report from your side?" He said as he took a seat.

"The only area attacked was your side, your judgment to patrol was a wise decision, Subaru... now, what happened? By the looks of it, it was a rather large battle, the watchtower and several buildings were damaged, Emilia-sama... also seems to be missing..."

"Emilia... yeah, okay then, well, we encountered two Sin Archbishops while we were patrolling..." Everyone gasped and looked at him shocked, "Sirius, Archbishop of Wrath, and Regulus Corneas, Archbishop of Greed... Wrath is skilled in combat, able to beat both me and Emilia, Regulus on the other hand... the only threat is his authority... Invincibility or something..."

"Impressive to see that you've survived that with minimal damage Subaru... but aren't you a little startled about Emilia-sama being absent as of now?" Julius asked.

"Of course I'm worried about her, but Regulus has taken her, he said something about her being his bride and that it was fate and destiny and shit... possibly his gospel's doing, so I think she'll be safe unless we do something rash... so what happened while I was out?"

The three looked at each other and nodded, "While you were out, there has been an announcement from the central hall... from the Sin Archbishop of Lust..."

Another Sin Archbishop? This would make it the third one today, if they were as strong as Sirius or has some overpowered Authority like Greed, then this looks to be a dreaded situation, though it seems their authority would be something close to regeneration like Subaru's.

"What about his or her name?"

"Her name is... Capella... Emerada Lugunica..."

* * *

 **A/N**

[Subaru]: Much better, this is what the fight was supposed to be like!  
[ReviewR524]: I'm glad you like it, but you'd probably like it anyway had I made it any difference  
[Subaru]: What? No, of course not, what makes you say that  
[ReveiwR524]: I have the Divine Protection of Command Write! I can twist the wills of the characters I write haha!  
[Subaru]: Isn't that basically being an author?  
[ReveiwR524]: Yeah, but this sounds much cooler, right Middle, Red?  
[MNR]: Totally  
[Red]: Yeah!


	13. Chapter 12: The Counter Attack

**Warlock of Sin Arc 2. Convocation of Sin**

 **Chapter 12: The Counter Attack**

"Emerada... Lugunica?" Subaru mumbled, from his knowledge of politics in Lugunica, only people with the royal blood have ever had the name, Lugunica. "Could a Witch Cultist be part of the royal family..."

"Highly unlikely, Subaru, every one of the royal bloodlines is seemingly deceased... It might be that she is using the shrine princess's name in order to mock the royal family... with the way she speaks, I would strongly believe so..."

"Speaking of how she speaks, what was her announcement?" Subaru asks. "Well, it was a simple 'we are hear' kind of ann-"

"KAHAHAAA! Hello again, you lowly meat sacks! How are you all doing, huddling close to your feet, whimpering in the corner of your room like little kittens?" A loud and truly unnerving voice boomed throughout the room, actually, it boomed throughout the city, whoever that voice belonged to, they were using the city center's loudspeaker Metia, "Listen well you piece of shits! We have got the control towers in our hands so if ya try anything then let's hope you can all swim, KAHAHA! You pitiful low life, learn your place, which is under my feet!"

That way of speaking, having met three who speak pretty much the same way and with Julius's previous statement, that voice was undoubtedly from a Sin Archbishop, "Tch, damn bishops, they've got that insane touch, and she's got the worst out of all of them..." Subaru mumbled.

"You're all like little birds stuck in a bird cage, you trash make me sick, well then, have fun while you cower in your houses, we'll get you one way or another!" The broadcast ended, the voice still echoed through their heads though, but something bothered Subaru, there was some intense background noise in that broadcast, it wasn't like the last time he heard it.

"Yo my lady, how's things goin on over there?" They heard Ricardo say as he flips open his Conversing Metia, "Uhuh... yeah the dude's up... aha... we-"

 **"AAAHHHHH!"**

Horrid, high-pitched screams came from the Metia making everyone in the room jump, "Whats wrong!?" Julius said as they all gathered around Ricardo, startled by the sudden scream.

"Oi! What's goin on over there!" They all looked through the Metia, they saw Hetaro and Tivey on the ground, clutching their bleeding chests. "Hey, hey! Are you under attack!" Subaru exclaimed.

"No... it seems their Divine Protection of Trisection activated... Mimi is in trouble... is she with ya, Ricardo?"

"Wait... if I remember correctly, Mimi went with Garfiel... if she got hurt that badly then it must be some tough opponent... anyway, if Garfiel was by any chance willing to fight, he'd turn back right now, so if I'm correct..." He pauses and hears footsteps and panting coming towards the door, "He'll be here right now..." The door slammed open, a bloodied Garfiel carrying and unconscious Mimi on his arms.

"Boss... I'm sorry..."

Subaru just sighed, "Knew it..." he walks up to Garfiel and looks at Mimi, "You probably thought you could take them on didn't ya..." Garfiel just scrunched up his face, "Well she paid the price for that... at least you got her back, we can treat her now..."

Hearing the harshness in Subaru's words, everyone flinched. "Subaru, that's a bit too-" "Julius..." He turns back and looks at him in the eye, "A member of my camp dragged one of yours and got them seriously injured... if they didn't Garfiel would probably be dead right now... thanks for that... but leave my camps members to me okay?"

He took Mimi in his arms as he walks towards the bed, "Garfiel, you know healing magic right? So-" "Didn't work..." Garfiel said.

Subaru froze suddenly, some kind of emotion was surfacing his face, he looked to her chest and the wound wasn't closing, "She won't heal..." "Yo br-" "Rem, Beako, Get here quick!" He suddenly shouted as he laid her on a bed, rushing over to get something.

"Subaru wha-"  
"Go heal her quick!"

Subaru left the scene quickly, Rem and Beatrice walked over to the bed where Mimi laid down, Ricardo and Julius coming quickly to her side. As Beatrice and Rem applied healing magic, they were shocked, it wasn't working. They tried again, only harder, but still, the wound wasn't closing.

"Why the hell is it not working!" Ricardo yelled as he slammed his fist into a near wall, cracking the area of impact.

"Rem catch!" Subaru said as he threw her a bandage roll, "As I thought, healing magic won't work... could it be her authority..." He mumbled as he went over to Garfiel.

"Garfiel, brief us about your opponents!"  
"R-Right... ahem, one 'S a lady, quick as hell, other one 'S some bulky dude, got two greatswords on his hands... both got covered in black..."  
"Any chance they are archbishops?"  
"Nah... they were... silent, if anythin, they'd be the pawns or somthin..."  
"And the one who hit Mimi?"  
"The Lady..."

He went back and sat on a chair, 'Only Sin Archbishops have authorities, unless it's like Betelgeuse... I've already seen Greed, and Wrath, and Gluttony's authority is to eat memories, so it's probably Lust?'

'Whoever they were, I don't think it was an authority, Subaru...' Satella said, "What if... it was a Divine Protection..." He accidentally said aloud, which got everyone's attention, especially Wilhelm's.

"Divine Protection? Yeah, that might be it..." Ricardo said,

"Hey Wilhelm-san, you told me about your wife having something similar, yeah? What was it again... Divine Protection of..."

"Divine Protection of Shinigami..." Wilhelm said, "A blessing that imbues the user's strike with death, leaving any wound unhealable through any magic related means... those wounds could also be reopened if the holder is within proximity to the target, Subaru-dono, could it be..."

"Not really sure... but if they did something as outrageous as that, those bastards gotta another thing coming..." He sneered.

"Oh, those bastards are gonna get it coming alright..." Ricardo whispers, his voice laced with anger. He get's up and starts walking to the door, "Ricardo..." Anastasia calls to him from the Metia.

"My lady... don't-"  
"I too am worried about them... but now-"

"I'm gonna have to agree with Ricardo on this one, Anastasia-san" Subaru intergected, the attention focused onto him, "If we don't remove the threat, or atleast push it back, Mimi's wound will never close, and the other two will just have to keep suffering to keep her alive... send reinforcements to the city centre, we're taking it by force" he said as he got up.

"Subaru, we can't act rashly like that, we need to devise a plan... it's the witch cult we are talking about" Julius said. "They have taken over the control towers... so they-"

"I'm fully aware of that Julius. If anything goes wrong, I'll take the blame, you didn't call me the leader of the Witch Cult subjugation for nothing did you?" he said as he smirked at him, "I've already got a plan... we attack the city hall all at once, if the other archbishops were as strong as the one's me and Emilia faced, then splitting up is the worst idea ever... instead, we attack their most valuable asset, the city hall..."

The other's realized what he was getting at, "Without it, they wouldn't be able to send messages to their pals over at the control towers... am I right?" they were all astonished by the possibility of his make-shift plan, "And then, we can just chip them off, one by one..."

"That's... rather plausable Subaru-dono"  
"I guess we gotta go with it... I'll inform Crusch and the other mercenaries"  
"That's Rem's Subaru-kun..."

"What about Betty, I suppose?"  
"You stay here and help Rem, heal Mimi whenever possible, if she dies it's on us..."

She just nods and walks back, "Right, better leave as early as possibe... oh, but first... Garfiel" He looks over to the blonde youth, his head tilted down low, "Why are you putting your head down? What happened to all that, Strongest in the world thing you told me about, the first time we met?"

"Hkk... I... my amazing self's... not stro-"

 ***Smack*** Subaru hit his head with his hand, making everyone turn over to the two, "Wrong answer... try again..."

Recollecting his thoughts, he tries again, "My... my amazing self's... wak-"

 ***Smack* *Smack*** He hit him again, twice this time, and also a little harder, "Wrong answer again... try again..."

"What do ya want me ta say Boss!? I get it, I'm weak, good for nothing sheild! Can't protect anythi-"

 ***SMACK*** This time a slap to his cheek "Haah... wrong again... your never gonna get it right if your like that..." Garfiel just stared blankly to the wall he was facing, "Who said you were weak Garfiel?"

"I..."

"Imagine Petra being in your position... what would happen?"  
"She'd... be dead in an instant..."  
"Good... that's what you call being weak..."

"S-Subaru-kun, that's a little rude to Petra-chan..."  
"I now but I bet she wouldn't mind, besides how else am I gonna get my point through?"

He looks back at Garfiel, "Your strong Garfiel... just because you can't beat that opponent doesn't mean your weak. A part of being the strongest is to realize your weakness, not cry about it, so now... try again..."

"My... amazin self's... not strong enough..."

Subaru gave him a pat on the back, "There ya go! So what do you do when your not strong enough?"

"I get stronger..."

"Pfft, took you long enough to realize that... now, your gonna go beat them up for harming her aren't ya? If you don't, we'd be in a pretty bad spot with Anastasia-san"

"Yeah! My amazin self's gonna make up for it!" He shot up with a determined face, everyone else looking at awe at what Subaru had done. He went over and shot through the door, everyone else following close behind.

He snickered to himself, and looked at the hand that hit Garfiel, 'That was a pretty interesting way to heal someone's injuries Subaru... what a smart person you are' Satella said. It seems no one noticed the wounds closing. Aside from fixing his mental state, he was also healing Garfiel silently, so he would be able to fight again in top shape.

'Why thank you kindly, it'd be the least to expect from the Warlock of Sin, don't you think?'

* * *

Subaru went forward on a Minya platform, shaped as a board, _(Totally not ripped off from MNR's Knight Subaru, you should check it out BTW)_ Garfiel and the others not far behind. Many people can be seen running the opposite direction, as witch cultists burnt down the houses, pretty ironic seeing that Pristella was a city literally floating on water.

Members of the Fang of Iron could be seen entering the scene, clearing off a path for them as Crusch came running to join Subaru and the group.

"That is a fine tool Subaru..." Crusch said as she looked at the board. "Refined Manipulation... i think that's what Beako called it, didn't really understand whatever she told me but basically it's like imagining things"

"To see you use it soo freely, it reminds me how much you've improved since last time..."

They all went to a halt as two figures blocked their path, a woman with a thin long sword, and a man with two greatswords sitting on both of his sides, these were the people that had attacked Garfiel and Mimi. Both were wearing black robes, concealing their faces. Ricardo growled and Garfiel clashed his shields.

"We can't act rash, let's gauge their strength first..." Julius said while readying his sword.

Then Wilhelm and Garfiel sprung forward, each going for one. The two figures also moved forward, and their weapons clashed.

Wilhelm thrusts his sword at the woman, their blades grazed as they twirled around. Their attacks parried each other in their graceful blade dance. The battle showed that both had, at some point of their lives, acheived mastery of swordsmanship.

On the other hand, Garfiel's side of the battle was more animalistic. The two warriors seemed to rely solely on brute strength and instincts. Unlike the silent battle from the master swordsman, these two wreaked haovc to the surroundings.

All the other's could do was just watch as the four did their thing. Subaru noticed Wilhelm was a bit slow with his left arm, proving his earlier thought about who the cloaked woman was, 'Ella, bringing back the dead...'

'Near impossible, there is the Immortal Kings Sacrament, but no one has mastered that, any other method would be inviting the Od Laguna's intervention...'

Garfiel dodged a fatal blow and proceeded to jump from another, he then ducked as several Minya spears slid by him and shot through the brute, cutting off his hands in the process. Seeing his chance, Garfiel dashed forward aiming a punch straight through his face, but he blocked it with his decapitated hand.

He held Garfiel in place and suddenly, his cloak opened up, revealing six arms he had been keeping hidden, two went and grabbed the great swords and swung them at Garfiel. An invisible slash of air countered it, however, freeing Garfiel from its grip.

The battle seems to sway to the opponent's side, so Wilhelm and Garfiel will need some help soon, but there are other pressing matters to deal with, such as, "Did anyone else notice that black dragon on top of the city hall?"

"Huh?!" They all looked towards the city hall's roof, he was right, there was a dragon, barely visible due to the night sky, but visible nonetheless. About the size of an elephant, with jagged wings and yellow eyes, truly, something from a fantasy novel.

"Kahahaaha! So you finally noticed my beauty amongst your play fight?" The raucous voice shot through the air, making the four fighters stop and look at the dragon, "What? Is my beauty too much that you can't look away once you see me?"

"Shut it dragon and go home! And just so you know, you look ugly!" Subaru shouted out while cupping his hands to his mouth. The dragon just looks at them astonished, "You dare call me ugly!? I'll show you ugly!"

The dragon gaped open its mouth, dark swirls of purple flames can be seen ready to shoot out from its mouth, "Crusch-san!" "Hiya!" Crusch swung her blade, a visible blast of wind sliced through the air and pushed back the flames as they shot out from the dragon's mouth.

"El-Minya!" Subaru put his palms out, shooting out several sharp bolts at the dragon. "In, Jiwald!" A speck of white light appeared and rested on the tip Julius's sword, and a burst of light was shot out, tearing straight through the dragon.

"Direct hit!" Subaru yelled as the dragon cried in pain.

Their combined attacks bored holes all over the dragon's body and also tore some parts of its wings off, but, "Did seeing my innards satisfy you perverted mutts?!" They stared in shock as the dragon simply regenerate it's lost skin in an instant.

"Looks like we underestimated her... Subaru..."  
"No, no, I expected something like this, just, not as troublesome as this..."

"You all bore me, anyway, I have to make another announcement, you can go die while I'm gone," the dragon said as it descended back into the city hall, "Shit, can't let her make one, else the whole place's gonna get flooded!"

Ricardo slammed his foot on the ground, "Bro, Juli, Crusch-sama, go ahead, we'll deal with these two!" He readied his cleaver and pointed towards the city hall.

Crusch looked at Wilhelm and they just nodded at each other, "Show em what you got Garfiel!" "Ya got it, Boss!", the masters and servants wished each other luck and separated.

Subaru opened a rift beside them, leading to the door of the city hall and they all crossed, "So, do you guys happen to know where the announcement room is?" Subaru asked them but they just shook their heads.

"Guess we'll just have to aimlessly walk around to find it..."  
"Or better yet, follow the path a dragon wou..."

From a corner emerged a young boy, ragged clothes, and messy long hair. He looked at the three surprised, a hungry smile latched onto his face. Immediately Subaru summoned his Minya blade and pointed it at him, "My, making assumptions are we?" The boy asked.

"Tch, your teeth are all I need to know your an enemy, seriously, you gotta brush man..."

"Hahahaha... funny, but I can't waste time laughing... not when there's such a large buffet right in front of me!" His mouth opened, he shows them the twin short swords in his hand, crouching down like an animal, seemingly ready to pounce on them, "Sin Archbishop of Gluttony, Roy Alphard!"

"Juli!"  
"Valkyrie!"  
"Lolimancer!"

They shouted each other's make shit nicknames as they all readied their swords, "Alright, let- wait why am I Lolimancer!?" "Does it matter, Subaru? It's only temporary anyway..."

"Hiding your true identity when the whole world knows who you are?" Roy snickered, "Natsuki Subaru, Subjugator of the Hakugei! Crusch Karsten, a candidate to the throne! There's no use hiding your names from me!"

"Seem's I'll have to hold him off myself, go get Lust..." Julius said to them. Roy laughed maniacally, "Now, come forth, come and satisfy my hunger, my thirst, satiate me!"

"Not happening, El-Shamak!" Black clouds surrounded Roy, Subaru and Crusch dashed off to an open room, "We'll leave it to you, Juli!"

"That's how it's gonna be?!" Roy shot out from the smoke and swung his blade at Julius. Julius parrying it with his blade then kicked him away, "I'll find out who you are soon, and when I do, you'll be gone, Juli!"

"Try me, feind!"

.

"Subaru, where do we go?" Crusch asked as they kept on going down a hallway. "Well, if we keep on going directly to the announcement room or wherever they keep that metia, then we're sure to be ambushed, so we go from a place that they won't expect us to, like say a window"

"I see your thinking has changed a lot since the last time we've met Subaru, could it have been that meeting with your parents Emilia has told us about?"

"Well... no, not really, but I guess you can say they motivated me a bit, anyway, here" He led her to a closed room, a singular window in the edge of the room. "Are you saying we make a jump for it?"

"Basically yeah, but that'd be painful so instead..." His hands faced the ground and a purple board formed on the ground, he got on it and put his hand out to Crusch, "No time to waste, let's go"

They both got on and readied themselves, the board shot off through the open window and towards another. They ducked down to minimize the damage and successfully broke through. They skidded on the ground until it stopped and got their blades ready.

In the room they had broken in, they saw two figures, a black dragon, the one they were looking for, and a weeping little girl. "You'll pay for threatening a child, Witch cultist!" Crusch said as she leaped forward with her blade in arm.

"No wait-"

It struck deep into its flesh, blood pouring out of the wound, and the dragon cowered back, "Coward, where was that voice you had when you belittled us all!" Crusch said as she readied herself for another strike, though something was strange, the wounds didn't heal, not like last time.

'Subaru, that's not the one'

A sudden realization hit Subaru and he quickly stepped forward and knocked Crusch blade before it hit the dragon. "Crusch-san, stop!" He got between the two, surprising Crusch, "S-Subaru, what are you-"

"This isn't the same dragon! Somethings wrong!" Silence filled the room as the dragon took ragged breaths, "What d-"

"Pfft, so you rats are pretty damn observant, I'm so proud of you, Khahaahah!" The same cackling laughter burst through the room, the little girl who was just crying a minute ago was now snickering at them. "Sin Archbishop of Lust, Capella Emerada Lugunica, bow down before me ya shi-"

A foot was implanted onto her face and she crashed through the wall, "Quiet, you scorny bitch!" Subaru spat out as he glared at her with his glowing red eyes, "Sorry about the trouble uh... sir, we'll fix you up after we deal with her, Crusch-san!"

"Hai!" She dashed forward with her blade but was whipped away by a black tail. "Oho, you've done it know!" She said with a face filled with fury. Maintaining the body of a little girl, Capella now had a tail, sharp rows of teeth, and large claws on her hands, "Try say that again you fucker!"

"As you wish, you putrified mass of bullshit!"

Subaru darted forward, thrusting his sword straight at her chest. She twisted her body, hitting him with her tail, slamming him out to the hallway, "Say that again! I dare you!"

"Your so ugly, my eyes are starting to bleed!"

She roared out but from behind, Crusch slashed at her back, black blood spurting out of the cut as she wailed in pain. "How could you do that so such a cu-" Subaru slammed his heel onto her head, a noticeable crack can be heard as her face was slammed to the ground. Subaru leaped over her and stood beside Crusch.

"What's wrong, can't take two on one?"

She dragged herself up, all previous wounds healed, it was as if nothing had ever happened, the only damage visible was from her clothes, which also seemed to be fixing itself for some reason. "Let's end this quickly"

Subaru ran forward and got into a low position to dodge her swing, he swung his sword upwards and cut her head clean off. Her body slumped backward, dead. They both breathed raggedly, seeing that they have beaten their opponent rather quickly.

"She underestimated us..."  
"Wasn't that a little bit too easy... Subaru!"

 **"GAHH!"** Black claws tore through Subaru's chest, his mouth coughed up blood, as he was slammed to the ground. Capella's body, that was dead just a few moments ago, stood up, the head on the floor started cackling in laughter as it dissolved into nothing, reforming back on her neck.

"Hey, big talk, what was that about me!?" She said as she lowered her down to Subaru's head, grinning massively, Crusch was about to move forward but stopped when Capella shook her head, "Any closer and this slab of meats gonna go rotten ya hear!"

"Hkk..." Crusch could only watch as Subaru lay there, blood leaking to the floor, he'll die soon if she doesn't do anything, "Dh... wl... on m..." Subaru tries to say but his throat was already drowned by blood so all they could hear was muffled gurgles.

"Huh?" Capella said as she cupped her ears towards him, "What was that, little bunny?"

"Don't look down on me bitch!" Subaru twisted his body slightly, letting the claws tear through his organs and swung his sword, slicing through her arm, setting him free. He then proceeded to kick her in the chin and drag himself up.

"Subaru!"  
"Gah... can't, let her make... that announcement"

Subaru's own wound started to heal up, though, much slower compared to Capella's own, but no one noticed it. Crusch stood in front of Subaru, readying her sword at the Archbishop.

"Kah, having such a beautiful body protect you, what a bastard you are!"  
"Silence!"

"El-Minya!" Several purple bolts shot out to her, impaling her almost everywhere, "Just like Elsa... then I'll have to keep on killing you until you stop!" Clutching his stomach which still hurt immensely. He swung his blade at her but he was too slow to notice her tail going straight for him, slicing at his chest, and slamming him into the wall.

"Su-"

She clawed at Crusch, making her drop her sword, and clutch at her bleeding arm. Capella went up to her and kicked her right in the face. She then walked over, lifting her foot, spikes forming at the bottom, and stabbed her arm continuously.

All Crusch could do was wail in pain, "Watch, minced meat, look at this body, don't you want to protect it? Don't you want to sleep with it? I know you do, you tried to protect it so you could have it all for yourself didn't you! If so, then don't god damn make excuses, like 'Love' and 'Friendship', don't hide your lust with such excuses you hear me!"

Subaru couldn't concentrate clearly, his mind kept on phasing between conscious and unconsciousness, but he knew one thing, Crusch was getting hurt badly. "I'll leave you a little present, princess..." She said as she cut open her arm, letting blood flow down into the wound, Crusch was already unconscious but he could see her arm react terribly to the foreign substance.

"My blood is mixed with the dragon's blood... your almighty, beloved, dragon..." She took her foot off Crusch's arm and walks away, but as she passed Subaru, she spat some at his bloodied face, "Some for you, go die if you value your life, bastard..."

His mind was already blanking, his vision was getting blurry again, "Fainting twice in a day... dammit..."

* * *

 **A/N**

 **...**  
 **[ReviewR524]:** (Honks party horns)  
 **[Everyone]:** WOOOOOO!  
 **[ReviewR524]:** We did it guys, 5.3k views! A new record!  
 **[Subaru]:** Man, I didn't think people would actually read this!  
 **[ReviewR524]:** Me too I guess... but it was fun writing this, so I hope more people read it in the future  
 **[Satella]:** Time to party! My fic got most views, gotta tell the girls yall!  
 **[Subaru]:** Hey, it's my fic, my names there!  
 **[Satella]:** Well, it wouldn't be here without me haha!  
 **...**

Okay so, Math exams are just around the corner and my bed just became a swimming pool filled with revision papers, I better not mess this up, wish me luck!

So, on to fanfiction things, After re-reading through my fics, I feel like I'm going to up the word limit for each chapter to 4k words, not now though. I'm also gonna start actually proofreading, so if you see any spelling errors, sue me.

Anyway, nothing else to say but **FREAKING VOLUME SIXTEEN COVER IS OUT!** Did you guys see Sirius's char design, it's god damn nice, her weapon too, but she got them Betelgeuse eyes, kinda creepy... there was also Joshua who looks pretty handsome in his suit. If you guys didn't see it, go check it now! I found it on the Re-Zero Reddit so get there and stare at Ootsuka-sensei's amazing piece of art!


	14. Chapter 13: Symbiotic Greed

_**[Nerf585, if you happen to read this fic, I think I'll take the challenge, gonna plan the stuff before I PM you okay?]**_

Hey, hey everyone! Early author's note for a few things you might want to know before we get on with this chapter. So first of all, combat and magic prowess.

 _ **Raw Strength**_  
[Reinhard - Subaru (Pride) = Satella - Garfiel - Ricardo - Wilhelm - Rem - Julius - Roswaal - Crusch - Emilia - Subaru (Normal) Mimi, Hetaro, Tivey - Beatrice]

 _ **Skill (Weaponry)**_  
[Reinhard - Wilhelm = Satella - Julius - Ricardo - Mimi, Hetaro, Tivey - Crusch - Emilia - Rem - Subaru]

 _ **Magic (Power)**_  
[Subaru (Pride) - Roswaal - Beatrice - Emilia - Mimi, Hetaro, Tivey - Ricardo - Crusch - Julius - Rem - Subaru (Normal) - Felix]

 _ **Magic (Skill)**_  
[Roswaal - Beatrice - Felix - Emilia - Crusch - Mimi, Hetaro, Tivey - Ricardo - Crusch - Subaru = Rem]

Okay, so first things first, Satella and Reinhard don't use magic, Reinhard because he has a defective gate and Satella because she doesn't have a gate, she is a spirit, yes, but it's a different kind which I will explain later when I think about it.

Then, Subaru (Pride), if you paid attention to the A/N in the prologue, is when he uses the authority of Pride, he gets stronger and blah blah blah, go check if you haven't. He's signaled when his eyes glow crimson Red. He's got that prideful attitude.

Subaru (Normal), is normal Subaru, the wimpy underdog one from the main timeline, he has dull red/orange eyes As of Chapter 8. He doesn't get that prideful attitude.

The order will be subject to change, later on, I'll notify you when I or Red, make changes, Any more would be unnecessary so I'll stop here...

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 **Chapter 13: Symbiotic Greed**

He felt a floating sensation as he fainted, kind of weird since you don't really feel anything when your unconscious. Only one thing escaped his mouth, "It hurts... why does it hurt..." He clutches his chest, no visible wound on it.

"Well, it'll hurt a lot more if you're awake you know..."

Hearing a familiar voice, he sprung up, "Hehe, seeing you react so quickly to my voice... makes me feel a little appreciated" He was in a void-like room, Satella sat in front of him with a sweet smile.

"I'm dreaming right?"  
"Pretty much..."  
"And why are you in my dream?"

"Hey, I know you want your privacy but how else are we supposed to talk..." She said while pouting at him, "Anyway, there are some things we need to discuss about the current situation..."

Subaru stretches his limbs and sits upright, "Right... so Capella has some kind of mutation ability, like the one we have, but it seem's like her's is more like regeneration since she also heals the pain..."

"That's basically it, also, remember what happened before you lost consciousness?"

He put his hand onto his chin and thought about it, "Well... we lost to her and then she dropped her blood on us, she said it was mixed with the dragon's blood, Crusch-san's arm didn't seem to like it very much..."

"Yeah, the dragon's blood is meant to be a miracle agent, able to cure famine with just a drop, heal any kind of wound, revitalize any and all things... but it seems that due to Lust, it has it's downsides as well..."

"Downsides?"

"It's like Sloth's authority, and Wrath's mind control, you were able to resist them to some extent, because of your connection to me... it's the same with Lust, you won't get downside effects of the blood, but Crusch on the other hand..."

"She's in for a lot of pain isn't she..."

She just nods, "She spat some on my face... how does it look? Is my eye bulging or something?" Subaru asks her.

"Well, it's didn't change the shape of your face... just a dark patch of blood stained on it, like this" Shadows covered the right side of Satella's face, looking almost scar-like, "To be honest... that actually looks cool..."

"For you, it'll fade away soon... Anyway, moving on to other things, there's also that dragon, it seems Capella had transformed him against his will, we could probably fix him up, but that would... you know, reveal some things..."

"That bitch thinks she can just mess with our faces? Oho, you've got another thing coming, Capella... anyway, it doesn't matter, I've already got an excuse for things like this if they were to ever happen..."

"Really?"

"Yeah, though it would get tricky with Crusch-san's Divine Protection... I'll tell them I do have more witch genes, and I'll tell them I got it during sanctuary, I met all the witches there after all..."

"Well, it's not a lie... do you think they'll believe you?"

"If they don't then it's their loss, anyway... next problem is how we'll deal with Regulus, he has some insane authority that gives him invincibility or something... how do we deal with that?"

Satella thinks for a bit, "It's not really invincibility, it's more of time stillness, it's like E.M.M in a way, only that the heart probably stops when you activate it so he can use it only for split seconds, either for attacking or defending..."

"Well, he was able to block three of my attacks and hit me with a shockwave... Man, it's either he has some extreme timing skills with that ability, or he can somehow sheild his heart from its effects..."

"Either way, it's going to be difficult to deal with him... on the other hand, Wrath isn't as hard to deal with, all we need is to keep her concentrated on one person, if she does, she won't be able to concentrate on her mind control, and her other authority, fire chain control, it's a purely combat ability so as long as we get someone strong to go against her, it should be fine..."

"Things are looking good so far... now for gluttony, he knows me and Crusch-san already, so we can't go against him... he also seems to be the speed based attacker, so if we get some fast hitters like Wilhelm in, we might stand a chance..."

"And Lust... we can assume that her authority is the one that allows her to heal herself and change other things, and the one that affects her blood... the best bet would be to get ranged fighters into the fight, and you if possible..."

"I'm already out, I'm going for greed"

"Right... then Betty could be able to help with Lust, she can attack and slow her down from a distance, the best we can do is drive her away because no matter how much we chop her up, she can just regenerate..."

"So like the bunnies, we're gonna need an Al-shamak or something, but Beako doesn't have enough mana... and I don't think we have anyone with some giant extermination spell or something... if only Roswaal was here..."

Suddenly he felt the pain from his chest dissipate, "It seems Ferris is healing you, I think everyone's starting to regroup now, better get out there and brief them about our situation..."

"Right then..."

* * *

"How could you have let this happen!"  
"I'm sorry... it was completely my fault, I should have been more-"  
"Your only sorry! How could you only be sorry!"

Two voices arguing entered his ears, it was irritating and he forced himself up from his sleeping position and shouted, "Hey!" It caught everyone's attention. In the room he was in, which happened to still be in the city hall, there was Felix, Wilhelm, a tired Garfiel, and a ruffled up Julius.

"What's with the racket all of a sudden, huh?" He said as he got up, Felix just glared to the ground, a few tears escaping his eyes, "S-Subaru-dono... While you were successful in repelling Lust, both you and Crusch-sama has suffered..."

"Yeah, I'm aware of that, but that's not my question... why are you two arguing?"

"Due to Crusch-sama's condition... Ferris is... and..."

The situation at hand was obvious, Crusch was injured, and Felix blamed it on Wilhelm. In reality, he was just blaming someone so he could vent out his anger on "So he's blaming you? Why?"

"Subaru-dono, Crusch-sama is my master, and thu-"  
"Yeah, we know that, but it's not your fault she's injured like that"

"Who else fault would it be, Subaru-kyun!"

Felix burst out, glaring at him, Garfiel and Julius could only sigh at Subaru's mistake, "Isn't it obvious? It'd be my fault, and I don't like it when people take the blame for my actions you know"

Hearing him confess to being the reason for Crusch's state, they all looked at him astonished, "While we were fighting Capella, I rushed in getting caught up in all sorts of messes, Crusch just got dragged into it, so if you wanna blame someone, god damn blame me" He said as he stared Felix in the eye, him glaring back. "I'm the one who came up with the plan anyway..."

"Because of you... Crusch-sama is hurt, whatever Lust did... Ferri-chan... can't fix it..."

Remembering what had happened to Crusch he sighed as Felix dropped to the ground, "Well, of course, you can't fix it..."

"Hkk..."  
"Subaru that's..."

"It's like asking a newborn baby to use an Al-Class magic spell, clearly it's impossible..."

Felix shot up and grabbed Subaru by the collar, "Then are you saying Crusch-sama can't be fixed?! Are you saying Ferri-chan isn't good enough to fix Crusch-sama!? And it's all because of you right? Right!?"

The other's tried to break them up but was stopped by Subaru who raised his hands up, "Sheesh, that's not at all what I'm implying... listen up, Ferris, if there is a magic-related problem, you get someone who's an expert at handling magic right? Then If there's a witch-related problem, you get someone who's an expert at handling witch things, not magic..."

Felix calmed down, and removed his hands from Subaru's collar, "You simply can't do anything because you have no knowledge of the problem... what infected Crusch was not a disease, sickness, or curse that you can remove using healing magic... it's blood from a witch cultist that has been mixed with the Dragon's"

"The Dragon's blood?" Julius said, surprised.

"Yeah, she spat some at my face and said that her blood was 'mixed with your dragon's blood', and by Dragon, we can assume she's talking about Volcanica... but it's not like the dragon's blood..." Subaru said as he put his hand onto his forehead, where a black, scar-like patch of skin stood out, "When she poured it on Crusch-san's arm, I saw it twitching, like it doesn't want the blood, so we can say that it's definitely not a good thing... but for some reason, mine just looks like a cool tattoo"

"So, Subaru-dono, what do you suppose we can do about Crusch-sama?"  
"According to what you said Subaru, we have to get someone that knows things about the witch, yes?"  
"Exactly, and who would that be?"

"That would be... Emilia-sama I'm guessing..." Julius said.

"Wait, How the hell did you end up with that? Emilia doesn't know a thing about the Witch"  
"Really... I thought she would know since she's always at a constant threat..."

"Then, the other person'd be the Boss... Granny 'n Rem told us ya reek of the witch an all..."  
"You also seem resistant to the blood... and you were also able to see Sloth's unseen hand"

"Yeah, that'd be me, I'll see what I can do about it, it is my fault she's in her state right now so... Ferris, Wilhelm, show me to Crusch".

* * *

Crusch was in a makeshift bed, in a room separate from where everyone else was in. Her hand and parts of her right arm were tainted with black blood, swirling in a sickening pattern. Whatever it was, it looked unsightly, and it definitely hurt.

Her door opened, Subaru, Felix, and Wilhelm came in the room, surprising Crusch, "Yo, Crusch-san, you seem to be alive... definitely not well, but don't worry I'll fix you right up" Subaru said enthusiastically as he stepped beside her bed.

"Subaru... I'm glad you're not dead either... but, this..."  
"Dragon veins"  
"What?"

"Dragon veins, let's call it that for now... it's Capella's blood mixed with the dragon Volcanica's blood, we don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing, only that healing magic won't work, right Ferris?"

Felix nodded, "Nothing seems to work... all Ferri-chan could find out about it is that it's painful to Crusch-sama, and that it seems alive..." Felix was dead serious, which was not very common, he even stopped using his signature -nya's.

"Then we can say it's a parasite... sucking off Crusch's energy, tell me Crusch, how does the pain feel?"

"Well... it's as you said, Subaru, it does feel like it's slowly sapping on my stamina, it's not the sharp kind of pain you experience when a blade hits you, it's more like a curse, or a mana drain..."

Crusch shows him her arm, "Crusch-san... if my memory serves me correctly... didn't you have a bunch of holes bored into your arm, I saw Capella stabbing your arm with a spiked foot after all..."

"Ferri-chan didn't recall any holes when treating Crusch-sama, Subaru-kyun..."

'So it does heal wounds, but the pain lingers... just like Alteration, so what do we do Ella...'  
'Best course of action would be to absorb it yourself Subaru... since you aren't affected by...'

"Okay Crusch-san, this may hurt or it may not, but your gonna need to endure it okay?" She gulped and nodded, the other two looked at him worriedly, "I'm gonna hold your hand and..."

"Hkk.."  
"Crusch-sama!"

As Subaru made contact with her hand, the black patches on Crusch's hand invaded Subaru's arm, it was transferring between Subaru and Crusch. Looks like it wants to be on Subaru rather than Crusch. "S-Subaru... that's... too much...!"

Crusch continued showing a pained expression and Subaru a serious one, the other two just looked awestruck at the ordeal. It seemed the amount that transferred from Crusch wasn't the amount that was received by Subaru, if anything, it was almost twice the amount, and it also appeared darker on Subaru's arm.

'Ella... anything strange happening to my body?'  
'Nothing at the moment, keep going...'

Crusch tried to pry her hands off his weakly, scared that Subaru may face the same pain she was facing, but Subaru's hand won't budge, his serious face showed no signs of pain.

As the last bits of blood was transferred, Subaru let go of her hand, it seemed pale for some reason. Crusch clutched her heart while breathing raggedly, Felix rushed over to her to check on her condition.

Subaru stared at his arm, now tainted with black blood, unlike Crusch's arm, which had a mix of her skin color with the blood, this one was pure black, it was as if Subaru's hand was burnt multiple times.

"No pain... so I really am resistant... how's your hand Crusch-san?"  
"Crusch-sama is low on blood... but nothing else seems wrong, Subaru-kyun..."

Subaru sighs out of relief and looks at a nearby mirror, the blood not only covered his whole arm, but bits of his neck, and the bottom right part of his face. "This is either really cool, or it's really scary..."

"S-Subaru..." He heard shuffling on the bed and turned back. Wilhelm, Crusch, and Ferris, all three of them, bowed to him, "Thank you... for fixing Crusch-sama, Subaru-dono..."

"Hey, it was my fault in the first place, just doing what I'm supposed to do, you know"  
"Please forgive Ferri-chan for the outrage, back then, Subaru-kyun..."

"It's alright, I'd probably do the same if something like that happened to my friends... anyway, we have things to do so let's get going, but... Crusch-san should stay here, it'd be dangerous seeing the condition of your arm..."

She sighs and looks at his arm, "I see you don't seem to be affected by the... dragon veins... then I can say that you'll take it from here yes?" A confident smile plastered on his, "I'll be called the Witch Cult Banisher or something when I'm finished, let's go, Wilhelm, we need to start planning!"

Subaru leaves the room, followed by Wilhelm as he bows to them.

.

"So, Wilhelm..." Subaru said, suddenly getting serious, "The two that you guys fought outside, did you find out what you were looking for?"

He could feel Wilhelm's intense aura behind him, it is full of anger and hatred, "Yes... the giant was someone I've known, Kurgan was his name, a warrior from Volachia but he was supposedly killed by the Archbishop of Greed several years back... those damned cultists have defied the laws of this world... and, the woman I was fighting, was indeed my wife..."

Subaru couldn't help but twitch a little, he knew what the answer was, but hearing it from Wilhelm still gave him that little bit of suspense, "Subaru-dono... if it's okay with you... I would..."

"Yeah, it's alright, she's your wife after all... just don't go easy on her, can't have you dying..."  
"Heh, I'd never go easy on her, Subaru-dono..."  
"Good to hear"

They walked back to where everyone else was, Anastasia and Beatrice now present, "Alright, Crusch-san is more or less okay... Beako and Anastasia-san are here, perfect, we can start planning" he said while clasping his hands together.

"Subaru... what's wrong with your hand and face, I suppose..." Beatrice asked worriedly.

"Eh, nothing to worry about, just black blood, it'll fade out soon... I hope..."  
"That doesn't dispell Betty's worry, I suppose!"  
"Well you'll just have to wait then"

He said as he sat down behind her, putting his chin on her head, he then looked up at Anastasia, "You want to talk don't you, Anastasia-san..." "Your pretty observant today, Natsuki-kun... and yes, I'd like to talk to you, in private if possible..."

Garfiel gave Subaru a look, he just showed him a thumbs up meaning it's okay, "Then if you guys wouldn't mind..." They nodded and left the room, leaving the three in the room alone, "Let's get this thing going shall we, what's this all about, not trying to steal any information again, are you?"

She giggles, "Now why would I do such a thing at a time like this... no, it's about more pressing matters, matters that affect the two of us"

"Why the two of us specifically?" Subaru tilted his head.

"Ya see, although you and Crusch were able to drive the Sin Archbishop of Lust away, she still made an announcement, though she didn't mention anything about the floodgates... instead, she made more requests, or orders, one from each Sin present in Pristella"

"Orders? So one of them is related to the two of us somehow, yes?"

She grabbed a chair and sat down on it, stroking her fox scarf, "Yes, it was Gluttony's request, they wanted us to surrender our Artificial spirits..."

Hearing her say that Subaru tightened her grip on Beatrice, "Akh, S-Subaru, t-too tight, I suppose!"

"Oops... sorry Beako... they want our Artificial spirits? Heh, so first they take Emilia, then they want to take Beako, oho, they've got another thing coming alright!"

"Seems the answer is pretty clear on their side, Ana..."

Suddenly, a fourth voice, entered the room, though Subaru wasn't at the least surprised by it, all he did was look around the room, "There, I suppose..." Beatrice said as she pointed at Anastasia's fox scarf.

"Talking scarf... weird..." he deadpanned.

"I was expecting a much stronger reaction than that, but oh well..." The fox scarf sighed as it shifted it's position to Anastasia's shoulder. "So, I'm taking that your Anastasia-san's Artificial spirit?"

"Yes, that should be it"  
"Betty couldn't sense your presence before, I suppose..."  
"Well I'm not really the best when it comes to magic, but in exchange, I'm rather good at concealing myself from prying eyes..."

"Well then, let's get to know each other, I'm Natsuki Subaru, knight to the half-elf Emilia, this is Beatrice, my Cute and Prideful, Great Loli Spirit" With Subaru's compliment, Beatrice puffed out her chest, "Betty doesn't mind compliments, I suppose"

"Well, it would be rude if I don't introduce myself after that... my name is Echidna, nice t-"

Before 'Echidna' could finish her introduction, Subaru and Beatrice glared at the fox scarf, making the atmosphere suddenly very tense, "My, that reaction came out of nowhere..."

"Cut the crap... Echidna, how are you still here? Emilia destroyed the algorithm that kept the trials in place, meaning you should be gone as well, along with the other five. Did you plan all if all and escape?"

"Now, now, it's awfully rude to just assume that ya know? I'm sure your Echidna's a different one, don't ya think? Beside's, we've been together for about a decade"

"Tch, well you both speak the same way, and Echidna's definitely not a common name, don't you think? And if you aren't her, what are you exactly?"

"I've told you, I'm an artificial spirit, the only thing I know when I was created was my own name and nothing else"

This wasn't the Echidna they knew, even though, they must have a connection, no doubt about it, "Then would you mind I take a look at your mind?" "Ahem, I'd rather have you not peek into private things, Natsuki-san..."

"It would be impossible for you to have no connection to Mother, I suppose... but nows, not the time to start doubting your allies, but can we trust you, I wonder..."

"Mother? Hmm, that's quite interesting Natsuki-kun... would you mind if we ask about your Echidna? She doesn't seem like the kind one if you ask me..."

"Haah, sure why not... the Echidna we know is the one that created Beako and Puck, but to be more specific, she's the deceased Witch of Greed, the thirst for knowledge" Hearing him say that Echidna was a witch made them flinch, "Though, just after her death, Volcanica bounded her to a tomb in Sanctuary, along with the other Witches, except Envy of course..."

"Uh... N-Natsuki-kun"

"Her tomb has a mechanism called a trial, it's a series of tests about your past, present, and future, if you're able to either accept or deny them, then you pass... I got to talk to her quite a lot, and man is she a god damn pain in the ass!"

"I... I see, so we can assume that she's the one that created me, yes?" the fox scarf asked, "Yep, pretty much, any way to what Gluttony said, there's no way I'll give up my Beako, just they try, I'll rip em to shreds"

She nods to his answer, "Hm, the same is with me, I won't let them have Echidna"

"Oh, if you don't mind me asking, what's your relation with Scardona?"  
"Scarfdona? Is that me?"  
"Gotta differentiate you two somehow"  
"I see..."

"Well... our relationship is not like that of Natsuki-kun and Beatrice, it's more of a symbiotic relationship"  
"Symbiotic?"  
"About ten years ago, I started following Ana, because I wanted to see the girls future... what she'll grow into, the people she'll meet, those kinds of things..."

"Tch, even your taste is like Echidna... anyway" He straightens himself, then lay his chin on Beatrice's head again, "What about the other request?"

"Lust wants to bring us to bring twenty couples over to one of the control towers, I suppose, she also said that she won't harm them..."

"She's probably gonna transform them to flies or something... not gonna let that happen..."

"Greed's request was that he is holding a wedding in the church, and demands that no one disturbs him or his... silver-haired bride..."

"Tch, bastard, you'll think twice for taking my bride..."

"Finally, Wrath's request was for us to hand over the book of wisdom that is somewhere in this city, I suppose..."

Subaru widened his eyes. The book of wisdom was the nickname for the complete Gospel's that Beatrice and Roswaal had in their possession, "It seems you know about that, Natsuki-kun?" Anastasia said.

"Beako... we burnt your gospel right?"  
"Correct, I suppose, blue hair disposed of it..."  
"And Ram destroyed Roswaal's copy..."  
"Betty made sure of it..."

"It's either Rem didn't completely dispose of yours and someone found it, or they're just blindly requesting one without knowing that there isn't one here..."

"Either way, we can't just tell em we don't have it, they may flood us outta rage"

"Wait, I got an idea..." He stood up and opened a rift back to the Plumage Inn right in front of him, he brought from the other side, a bag. He opened it up and took out a black book with ancient designs on its cover, "We'll just give them this"

"Juice's gospel, I suppose?"  
"It's similar to the gospel they want, besides it's not like they'll find out?"  
"It's not a bad idea, I suppose..."

"Anastasia-san, Scarfdona, I'm ending our little talk here, there are urgent things I need to take care of..."

"Right, just don't ya go yapping your mouth about Echidna, ya hear?"

"I'll keep my yapper shut, but I'll start yapping if I must... right, so see ya"

Subaru waved off and left the room, leaving the two to themselves, "He's much different from what you told me Ana... he doesn't seem like the outrageous one that caused a ruckus during the meeting at the castle... he's surprisingly calm"

* * *

Subaru walked around the city hall, trying to find that room, Beatrice was following behind him. He heard a voice, two voices from the room beside him, it was Garfiel's and the one he was looking for. "I'm coming in" He opened the door, startling Garfiel and a dragon that he was talking with.

"B-Boss... scared us there..."

"Yeah, yeah... anyway, sorry about suddenly attacking you there, sir... we thought you were the dragon that attacked the city hall, do forgive us," Subaru said as he bowed to the dragon.

"N-No, it's alright, It was just a misunderstanding, t-thank you for noticing it though..."

He walked up to Garfiel, "So Garfiel, I'm guessing you know about him right?"

"Y-Yeah... one way'r another..."  
"Great, then we can fix him up"  
"Okay... wait, what!?"

The two looked at him, shocked, "How?! Do ya have some more cool powers ya haven't shown us yet!" "Well, yeah, I've got a lot of things up my sleeve, just you wait"

.

"Eh... so my amazing self's just gotta think about what he looks like right?"  
"Yeah, that's it"  
"Alright... then"

Subaru put his finger on Garfiel's forehead and activated Retention, he saw images flashing by, a boat, kids, a woman, then a man, he heard his muffled voice, it asked a question, "W̸̯̕h̴̨͂a̴̘͂t̴͎́'̸̟̔s̶̳͝ ̷̂ y̸̛̗o̵̬̅u̶̘̐r̷͠ r̶̨͌e̷̝͛ĺ̷͙a̸̙͛t̵̝̓ḯ̵͎ó̵͜n̵̻͌s̵̾͜h̴̫͗ȉ̷̗p̴̡̛ ̸̧͑ẁ̸̻ĭ̸̬t̶̬̑h̷͈̑ ̷̱̉m̷͙̓y̴̲͐ ̴̧͒w̴̡͝î̴̤f̸͚͠é̴͉?" seemed to be personal so he ignored it and concentrated on his appearance.

He released his fingers and faces the dragon, "Okay, this may hurt a bit... no scratch that, it's gonna hurt a lot so I'm gonna need you to endure it okay?" "A-Alright..." He jabs his hands into the dragon's chest, everyone else staring blankly at his hand.

"..."

Nothing was happening, just a bit of blood leaking out, "B-Boss..." "AUUUGH!" The dragon let out a muffled scream, it's pupils shrinking to the point where they nearly disappeared from his eyes. His body started convulsing and shrinking, blood started leaking profusely from his joints and fizzing can be heard from his body.

Beatrice and Garfiel just looked astonished and a little creeped out, but they trust Subaru so they didn't intervene.

"Just... a little longer..." The dragon slammed it's tail to the ground in pain, but it just dissipated before it touched. His skin was returning to a fair color, his dragon hide mutating back into skin, his fangs turning back into normal teeth, his hair regrowing.

He pulled his hand out of his chest, and both fell to the ground panting, Subaru was exhausted, sweating profusely, while the man had an expression of utter fear as he laid, butt-naked on the ground.

"Well, haah... how you feeling... Garek..." Subaru asked as he covered him up with his cloak, "I'm... I'm doing fine... thank you, very much... wait, how did you know my name?"

"Well, kinda found out when I peeked into Garfiel's memories-"

He was interrupted by the door opening, from the other side, Otto, Lilianna, and Kiritaka can be seen, "Otto!?" "Otto-Nii?!"

"The hell have you been! Thought you were dead or something!" He came over to him, chuckling while locking his arm around his neck, "N-Natsuki-san, Garfiel, Beatrice-sama... I was actually on my way to the Muse company for business reasons before the whole witch cult thing happened and..."

"Yeah, yeah, great knowing your still alive, so what business we talking about?"

"This" He showed him, a burnt book, it made Subaru's gaze slighlty more toxic, "Otto... Where did you get that..."

"Eh? Don't you remember, Natsuki-san?"

...

(Flashback!)

In Sanctuary, Subaru was playing in the snow, everyone else was resting, maybe asleep even.

"Natsuki-san, I found Roswaal's gospel, it's not completely destroyed though, hey we could still restore it, and maybe use it as a bargaining chip on Roswaal next time?"Otto whispered, Subaru just waved his hand and replied nonchalantly, "Eh? Yeah whatever, do what you want with it..."

"R-Really? Well, if you say so..."

...

"Oh... oof, yeah forgot about that... but still, why'd you have to bring it now of all times!" He said as he berated him, "I-I know, it's my fault, I'm sorry!".

* * *

"Right, seems everyone's here... let's get started on our next plan..." Everyone, including the Fangs of Iron, was circled around Subaru and Beatrice. They have gathered all the warriors and sent off all the non-combatants elsewhere, except for Anastasia, Crusch, and Felix.

"There are four control towers, each housing an archbishop inside, from what I can tell, the one in the far right over there is definitely Sirius's, the Archbishop of Wrath" He pointed towards a tower that was put ablaze. "She isn't a big threat, a one on one should be enough to take her out, Julius I need you to take care of her with Lilianna and this" He tossed him Betelgeuse's gospel, Kiritaka, who was with them shuddered in fear at the thought of Lilianna going, "Haah... Kiritaka-san, you go as well"

"Subaru, is it really okay to bring the songstress over?"  
"We gotta make due with what we got, Lilianna's singing can help combat her authority, I can tell you there's gonna be an angry mob coming your way, you okay with that right, Lilianna?"  
"Yeah, I'll show her how to truly express one's emotions!"

"Okay, next, Regulus, Archbishop of Greed, he'll be in the tower far south, near the city's church, he's got Emilia so he's all mine... he doesn't seem to have any subordinates and his combat sense is terrible, I'll probably be able to take him on..." Everyone gave approving but slightly worrisome nods.

"Then we have Lust and Gluttony, we don't know which one they're posted in, and they both fight differently, for Lust, we probably won't be able to wipe her out, she can regenerate as long as she still has a living cell somewhere..." They all grieved at the thought of fighting such an opponent, "The best possible course of action would be to stay here and drive her away if she attacks, she'll probably make another announcement soon and come barging in..." Subaru glanced over at Wilhelm and they nodded at each other.

"Gluttony's also a big problem, according to Julius, he does have subordinates and an authority that makes him fast, Really fast. He's also able to eat your names and memories so we'll all have to make code names in order to stop that from happening..."

He clapped his hands, "Right, let's form the teams!"

.

 **[Julius, Lilianna, Kiritaka, and his White dragon scale mercenary group]**  
 **[Sirius, the Archbishop of Wrath]**

 **[Subaru and Beatrice]**  
 **[Regulus, the Archbishop of Greed]**

 **[Garfiel, Wilhelm, and half of the Fang's of Iron]**  
 **[Capella, the Archbishop of Lust]**

 **[Otto, Ricardo, and the other half of the Fang's of Iron]**  
 **[Roy, the Archbishop of Gluttony]**

.

"So, with that, let's show them what happens when they mess with us!" Subaru said as his eyes glowed brightly, everyone letting out cheers as they moved out to their positions. "Don't come back dead, ya hear Otto!" "Please don't say things like that, Natsuki-san!"

Subaru glance over to Beatrice, "Change of plans, I suppose?" he said as he turned a corner, "Yeah, I'm gonna need you to follow Otto and the rest, can you do that?"

"I suppose... but..." She glares at the crystal, "If anything happens to Subaru, Betty is blaming you, I suppose!" 'R-Right! I won't let anything happen, you can trust me, Betty!'

"Stay safe Beako!"  
"You too, I suppose..."

 _Another counter-attack is now in action_

.

 **A/N**

 **A 6k word chapter, and this time, it's not about fighting and is filled with a lot of talking, was god damn hard to make but there it is!**

 **Next few chapters will be purely fight scenes, hopefully anyway... so get excited for that! The next chapter of The Perpetual Promise is also coming up later this week, so there's that. Once I finish that and Forgive me rewrite, two new fics are coming up, hype i guess...**

 **School talk now...**

 **Man, the math exam went smoothly, if I don't get at least 90% I'll stop writing this fic** _ **[JK] but I'm that confident yo.**_ **I also had an English exam, had to write a descriptive essay on the topic of "Waking up beside a river back" So I was like, let's make this a death scene, with knives and blood, and it turned out alright. Re: zero has influenced my writing style a lot...**

 **See ya later I guess!**


	15. Chapter 14: Hidden Avarice

**Chapter 14: Hidden Avarice**

Two shadows leaped from rooftop to rooftop, approaching what seems to be a church in the distance, "Hey, Subaru, is it me or do the buildings look more... fancy compared to last time?" Satella asked.

"Huh? Didn't you hear, Otsuka-san has released an illustration of Pristella, looks better than Author-san envisioned it so we had a complete change of setting, though, it looks so big that it's getting harder to navigate..." Subaru answered.

"Are you trying to break the- Woah!"

They jumped straight into a collapsing building and fell down a few floors, tumbling to the ground. They dodged the falling debris and broke through a wall, only to be met with several cultists, summoning fireballs.

"What a drag..." Subaru mumbled.

Several Minya spears shot out and met with the fireballs causing a big explosion of purple shards and orange flames. Satella rushed forwards and met head-on with two cultists who she easily unarmed with her shadow spear, she then slices at their chest and finishes off with a kick to the crotch.

Subaru simply summoned unseen hands and grabbed the cultists head, smashing them into nearby buildings.

Just as they finished dealing with them, even more showed up. Subaru sighed, clearly impatient and annoyed, "Hey, I've got a girl waiting for me, so if you don't mind!" Several shadows erupted from the ground engulfing all the cultist.

* * *

"Wake up... my beauty..."

A voice rung through Emilia's head as she opens up her eyes. She found that she was standing in the middle of a room, a Chancel to be exact. Many women wearing white, they're faces showing forced smiles as they trembled in their place.

"Where...?"  
"I understand this is quite sudden but it will all be explained in due time..."

She faced the only person that seemed to look normal, actually, he looked so normal that he could be considered the epitome of normality. Wearing a white robe, with a black collar and added gold accents, this person doesn't seem all that striking to her, but she knew who he was.

"Regulus... Corneas..."  
"So you already know my name... truly, it was destiny that we are to meet..."  
"Destiny?"

"Now, let's get this going shall we..." Emilia steps back, clearly confused and scared. Regulus Corneas, she remembered him from her trial. He was there, with a woman, Pandora, it was them who attacked her home, and killed the most precious people to her, he saw how strong he was.

"Will you take my hand... in marriage..." he extends his hand, holding a box with a ring inside it. He presents her the ring, with an honest smile on his face. "As my 79th wife?"

"No..." She was shocked by what his sudden request but that didn't stop her from instantly turning down what seemed to be a proposal.

He was dumbstruck but just laughed it off, "I don't think I heard you properly... I guess I did get ruffled up a bit, so it's only understandable... I think what you said was..."

"No... I won't take your hand in marriage..." She says bluntly with a stern gaze. His smile that was on his face faded slowly. The other women in the room, started shaking, gasping, even clutching they're heads, it made Emilia uneasy, seems like she's done something terribly wrong.

"I'm sorry... but I think we stepped off on the wrong foot here..." He tried speaking calmly, as he looked at her with a soft expression, "Even if you refuse, destiny is already written, so it would be best if you'd comply with its wishes... or else..."

"I'm afraid I can't..." She said plainly, "I don't quite understand the concept of love yet... though I know mother Fortuna and Juice told me that it's when you really really like someone... and marriage means sharing your life with the one you love... I haven't met you before, so I don't have any feelings for you, and it wouldn't be right to marry someone who helped in destroying my own home..."

And that was the breaking point, "Heh... hehe... you think it's all about you...? You should be grateful half-devil... for me to even consider taking you as my wife! No one else would look at you the same way I do, you are wretched! You are belittled! You are despised! So how could you turn down an offer as grand as mine! You can't, it's just unthinkable! Oh, is it because that's how you are? Is it because that's how you treat everyone? Of course, how silly of me... I apologize for even looking at your face!"

His ongoing rambling only stops when the door suddenly burst open, two figures entering the room, "Anti-Destiny express coming your way! Sorry for being late Emilia-tan, but have no fear, we'll save you!" Subaru comes in striking a pose catching everyone's attention.

"I don't think anyone would like to be treated the way you treat Emilia-san, I feel bad for all your wives..."

Regulus emanated immense pressure towards the two, "You dare violate my rights once again!"

"Your the one going around violating rights, Emilia-tan has the right to refuse your proposal, just deal with it"

"You fool! The gospel has already written our path, and I won't allow anyone to stray from it, it goes beyond anyone's reasoning, no one can comprehend it, but it doesn't matter, for that is what was written. Destiny is undefiable, those who think they can defy such a thing is merely dreaming of doing the impossible!"

Subaru and Satella have readied their weapons and casually walked over to them, "Destiny? Don't talk about such trivial things, Regulus, I can bend it to my will, no one tells me what I can and can't do..." He glares at him with his blood-red eyes.

"Hah, such a prideful attitude, has Stride Vollachia fallen already? If so then you must be the aforementioned Sin Archbishop of Pride Petelgeuse was blabbering about..." Regulus spat out.

"Stride? Never heard of the guy, and being called a Sin Archbishop, don't bring me down to your level, scum... I'm better than you, I'm a Warlock... the Warlock of Sin, I am the embodiment of all the vile that makes up a person. You? You are merely a piece stripped off from the actual thing, your just greed..."

"Hah, you say that yet look at you, all I see is a man wearing a cloak, where is the Sloth that you indulge in? Where is the Greed that you belittle? Where is the Lust? Where is the Gluttony? Where is the Envy? All you've shown is your Pride and Wrath, and your Wrath doesn't stand up to Sirius's, you call yourself a Warlock? Your only making the word look bad!"

"Your missing Vainglory and Trisitia there, you know? Anyway, how about we look at you? You, the Sin Archbishop of Greed, the hell is that? I don't see your Greed unless you take all your wives I guess, but there's nothing more than that, if you wanna talk greed, I know a woman that surpasses you tenfold"

"There's not much point saying that to him Subaru, besides, I'm getting kinda bored right now..." Satella said while nudging his shoulders, "Guess your right... uhh, just one more thing, Regulus, not really the best thing to ask but what does love mean to you?"

"Love? It is simple, the beauty of a persons face determines love, does it not?"

"..."

The other three, excluding the wives, were all dumbfounded and in silence, his simplistic view on love was too much that Subaru started laughing, "Hah.. haha... so you're saying that a cute face is all you need for love right?" He just nods approvingly, "Pfft! Man... I feel bad for you... if that's what your view on love, then you're missing out on life man, hahaha!"

"Me, a person who's satisfied all his urges, missing something? You must be mistaken..."

"Well whatever, it's not like your opinions going to matter anyway..." Having finished his sentence, Subaru dashed forward and tackled Regulus without warning.

Emilia ran over to Satella who briefed her on the current situation, "So your cult is at it again?" "E-Emilia-san, I'd rather you not call it my cult please..."

"Okay... anyway we have to get the wives out of here..." The two turned to the other people who were present, they were trembling in fear, "No, we can't leave, who knows what he'll do when he finds us!"

"Ella-chan, I'm going to need assistance..."  
"No problem, leave it to me!"

Satella walks over to them and grabs one by the shoulder, startling her, she stared into her eyes with an evil glimmer and said, "If you don't leave right now, I'll kill you!" She shouted in a harsh voice while making swinging motions with her hands. The wives screech and scurried out of the church immediately.

"That was a little harsh don't you think?!"  
"Well, sometimes you gotta be the bad cop, you know..."

Meanwhile, Subaru was battling head-on with Regulus, shattered pieces of purple crystals littered the floor. "Damn it, how the hell do I pierce through that kinda defense?"

"Fool, my authority, Stillness of an Objects time, can't be penetrated by merely a blade!"  
"So it is time stopping... wonder how you stop time from stopping..."

Subaru dodges another shockwave and grabs him by the arm, he proceeds to wing his whole body and slams him to the ground, his head crashing through the wooden floor. "There's gotta be a trick to it somehow..."

Regulus simply plopped his head out, with an annoyed expression on his face. Subaru backed down and regrouped with Emilia and Satella, "So Ella, you got any idea on how to beat him?"

"Wait, give me a second..." Satella removed her cloak and tossed it to the ground, revealing her silver hair, tied into a french braid bun. Her clothes were similar to Emilia's, though less revealing, and were dark gray with purple linings. "If we can't beat his defense, we'll just fight him till he gets exhausted!"

With her shadow imbued daggers in hand, she leaped at Regulus, slashing at his face, but to no avail. Her strikes just bounced off as if her daggers were made of rubber. "Your attempts are futile, do you think you can bring harm to such a perfect being"

"Perfect my ass, Greed!" An unseen hand punched him straight in the face, then another grabbed him by the leg, "Going round!" he started spinning him around so fast that the air started whistling. Chairs broke apart and wooden splinters shot up, he released him and Regulus was slammed into the wall. Subaru fell to the ground, clutching his head, "Ugh... recoil damage is too high... I feel sick..."

"You insolent beings, can't you see that nothing you do can affect me? Why do you even try? Such a waste of energy, you should just stop and comply with destiny, I can destroy the whole city right now, but unfortunately, my fellow cultists are nearby, I wouldn't want to cause them harm..."

"Well, I'll be sure to thank them before they die by my feet!"

More unseens hands sprout out from Subaru's chest and pinned Regulus to the already broken wall. They squeezed onto his neck, trying to choke him, but they couldn't get past his authority. "You imbecile..." With a swipe of his hand, the unseen hands dissipate, and he was gone.

"I'm getting impatient..." He appeared behind Subaru with his arm ready "Shit!" Subaru reacted quickly and grabbed his hand to stop it from moving, but it didn't work, it just kept going and ripped of Subaru's own hand off.

"Gk... not good!"

Satella and Emilia then came up and thrust their blades at his chest, only pushing him back slightly. Subaru scurried back as he tried regenerating his hand. "This is bad, gotta think, he's not even breaking a sweat so we're just gonna lose in the end..."

"Gah, that bastard... what the hell kinda authority is that?! His secondary authority must have something to do with it..."

As his hand regenerated, he concentrated hard on the problem at hand, that being Regulus's authority, Stillness of an Objects time. "According to what Ella theorized, it may have repercussions because the user's heart is also forced to stop, looking at him now, it seems he's constantly using his authority, so that means he must mean he's protecting his heart elsewhere..."

"What does he have that could protect his heart... uh, his wives? Well, he sure does have a lot of them..."

Satella and Emilia continued battling him, both clearly seemed tired. Worst case scenario, he might have to return by death once more, though he didn't like the thought of it.

"Okay, let's get some twenty-first-century knowledge in here... Regulus Corneas... Regulus Corneas... Corneas has no meaning... Regulus... a star, meaning the little king... he has his own harem which is like a mini-kingdom I guess, coincidence, I hope not..."

He calls the two back to re-discuss their plan, Regulus seemed to just ignore that and just watch them, "So it has something to do with his wives, I think his second authority is to somehow link his heart with one of his wives so that he can continuously use his first authority..."

"So if we can find who has his heart, then it's game for us right!"  
"Yeah, so Emilia, I need you to confirm this with the wives and... I don't know, freeze them or something"

"Eh!? Wouldn't that be bad?"  
"You survived for a hundred years in ice didn't you?"  
"I-I guess..."

"Right, we'll take care of him for now, come back when your done" Subaru and Satella went back into action, continuously slicing Regulus with their blades. Emilia made a break for the church door, seeing her, Regulus picks up a few splintered pieces of wood from the ground and threw it at her. The pieces zoomed past at almost the speed of a bullet and were headed straight for Emilia, but fortunately, Subaru rifted between them with a thick and dark Minya plate which broke when it made impact.

"Watch where your throwing!" Subaru spat out, Regulus just rolled his eyes and scooped up a pile of dirt, "It's about time I end you..." Satella tried to kick him down but was blasted to a wall by his authority.

"Shit..." Without taking aim, Regulus just threw the pile at Subaru, the dirt splitting apart into super thin bolts traveling fast enough a small trail of smoke formed behind them. Subaru spread his arms out and activated the authority of Trisitia, the dirt bolts tilted their trajectory and missed Subaru, boring holes in the wall behind.

"That actually works? Of course, gravity can affect time! I guess watching random fact videos isn't a bad thing!" Putting a cheeky smile on his face, he rushed forward with his hands out, Regulus simply swiped at him with his hands and a shockwave was set loose towards Subaru.

He could see the distorted space as it approaches him, so he readies his hands and literally grabs a hold of it, stopping it from reaching him. "Haha! I've figured you out, greed!"

"Impossible!" His face showed another emotion besides rage and annoyance, he was now genuinely surprised and shocked. "My authority... how can it be nullified by such an impure creature such as you!"

Now clearly angry, he starts walking towards Subaru, his hands ready to strike at any moment, "Bring it on, Regulus!"

* * *

"S-so you are saying we are currently shielding his heart for him?"  
"Yes, and the only way we can beat him is if we somehow remove it from you guys..."  
"But which one of us has it?"  
"I'm not sure... but it could be any of you"

Emilia was outside where the other wives were, they weren't really safe since a few dirt bolts shot through the wall and nearly tore through a few people, but luckily no one was hit.

"If it means taking revenge... I'll do it!" One of the wives said, her eyes, well no, all of their eyes were filled with anger and regret. She walked to a crumbling building and took a fist-sized rock, and she put it in her mouth. "Wait what are you doing!"

She started choking on it and it was clear that she was trying to commit suicide, Emilia rushed over to help her but heard screaming from the other direction, several other wives were harming themselves, either by smacking their heads on the wall, by putting their heads inside the waterway, and by hitting themselves with pieces of rubble.

"STOOOP!"

Emilia screeched out while holding her head, clearly disturbed by the scene in front of her. Suddenly all the screaming stopped, she looked around and saw that everyone was frozen, streaks of ice coming from her feet, "Oops... I think I overdid it... well, I guess I'll check back inside..."

* * *

She went back to the church, the whole place was utterly destroyed, pieces of the ceiling were hanging on their last plank, the walls were ripped off, furniture overturned. In the corner, she could see Satella beside Subaru, him holding his hand out in the air, with Regulus on the ground, small bits of blood starting to leak out from his skin.

"Grrr!"

"What's wrong, can't move your hands?" Subaru mocked him as he was forced down by a gravity field. Regulus held a sour look on his face as he struggled to break through the force. "You **will** pay for this!"

"Yeah, I'll pay up wh-!" A sharp pain struck through his body and he collapsed, clutching his head. He could feel it throbbing, and his stomach was also churning. His red eyes darkened and the dragon veins on his face started beating, he gagged out black slime as he heard silent murmurs going through his head, this is what happens when he uses an authority for too long or too intensely.

"GRAH!"

Regulus used this chance to attack them, but Emilia put up an ice wall that minimized the damage, Satella grabbed Subaru and jumped back towards Emilia. "Emilia, what's the status outside"

"Everyone's frozen, they shouldn't be able to hold his heart now..."  
"Okay then, here hold Subaru, I'll finish this"

Satella gave Subaru over to Emilia and she starts applying healing magic, trying to soothe out the pain. Satella charged at Regulus with her daggers, dodging the multitude of shockwaves which she had to redirect away from the other two. She stabbed at his chest but nothing happened, she made a twist and made a solid landing, then she sliced her other one under his chin, still nothing.

She then used an unseen hand to try and crush his face, but it wasn't working. Then she tried to just grasp his heart to stop him from using his authority, but, "It's not there!?"

She stammered with her footsteps giving Regulus the chance to give her a solid hit, she tried blocking it but the attack broke through her defense and smashed her against the wall. He then proceeded to send another shockwave but was stopped when several unseen hands grabbed his hand.

"No, you don't..."

He was flung backwards, slamming head-first into the floor. Seeing that he was still able to completely deflect their attacks made them despair, the only thing they can think of doing now was to hold him back until he either gives up or until back-up arrives.

"Whatever we do, we won't let you harm anyone, Regulus Corneas..."

As Emilia said that, she felt something odd, irregular heartbeats. She put her hand to her chest where her heart was, yes, she felt the irregular heartbeats, that could only mean one thing, "Subaru... I think I'm holding Regulus's heart..."

"What? He must have done it while you were unconscious..."  
"Okay, I'll freeze myself so then you should be able to beat him!"  
"Woah, Woah! Slow down there, if you freeze yourself, who's gonna unfreeze you?"  
"Then what should we do?"

"I'll just have to... squeeze his heart out of Emilia-san..."

A bloodied looking Satella came up behind them, holding her arm as it regenerates. "Emilia-san, do you trust me?" Emilia gave her a nervous look, she gulps and nods slowly. "Right..."

Regulus got up and sent a shockwave at them, Subaru grabbed the two and dodged it, and the several others that followed. "I'll distract him, Ella, do your thing!" Subaru rushed over to Regulus with a newly formed Minya blade on his hand.

"Okay, let's do this..." Satella closes her eyes and concentrates, an unseen hand sprouts from her chest and enters Emilia's. Inside she saw two hearts, beating at different times, she can't tell which one was which so she grazed against one of them.

Emilia felt a chill go through her spine, "T-That's m-mine!"

"Oops, my bad..."

She quickly grasps the other one and crushes it. Regulus reacted by clutching his own chest, Subaru grabbed him by the head and smashed it to the ground, a few bones can be heard breaking as blood leaked to the ground.

Still, Regulus got up, Subaru sliced him in the chest but he activated his authority, though he got pushed back into a pile of rubble. "Y-You can't, you won't stop me!"

He gets up yet again, with his shaky and bloodied arm raised up, "I am Regulus Corneas, the Sin Archbishop of Greed! I am a diligent believer who follows the gospels writ, I am a being who has satisfied all his desires, a perfect being who fits in all situations, a being who only does what needs to be done and nothing more! I won't fall to you, Natuski Subaru, I won't fall to anyo-"

Spikes of shadows erupted from the ground, stabbing through several parts of his body, blood leaking through the holes. "Quite..." The battle was over, **Regulus Corneas** is now dead.

Subaru lowered his hands and the shadows sunk back into the ground, he fell back, he was exhausted of all his stamina, this battle was the most tiring one he has had. His dark red eyes returned to its orange-red color.

Emilia came up to him, helping Satella over as well, they smiled at each other and raised their hands in the air, shouting, "Victory!"

From Regulus's corpse, a black mass started heading towards Subaru, it circled around him, "So is this the Greed witch genes?" "Yeah, with this you should hopefully be able to absorb Regulus's time-stopping ability and put it to great use..."

"But isn't absorbing the witch genes dangerous?!"  
"Well, Subaru's the most compatible and there's no one else here so that's the only choice..."

The black mass entered the Subaru through his chest, he could feel his stomach churning again, and he felt a little dizzy, but it all faded away quickly, he looked at the state of the church, utterly and completely destroyed, "Hey, we should unfreeze those wives quickly... or should we call them widows now..."

"Subaru, nows not the time to joke around!"  
"Hehe, right... I hope everyone else is doing well..."

* * *

A/N

Omg, Gomenesai! I took too long and carelessly passed the deadline, fortunately, the chapter was almost 4k words anyway so I just added little bits here and there to make it + 1k words than usual.

I've finally finished my exams! It feels great, now I can finish Forgive Me Remake and start on Re: Watch, a challenge set up by Nerf545, look forward to it!


	16. Chapter 15: Scorching Rage

_Note: La, Aro, Kua, In, Nes, and Ik, are Julius's spirits okay?_

 **Chapter 15: Scorching Rage**

Julius lead the way through the devasted city, houses collapsing, a bright scorching fire in the distance was more than enough to signify where their enemy's location was.

Unlike the other avenues, this one was rather calm, sure it was devasted, but it was silent, no one was outside, no screaming can be heard, just debris falling down and fire crackling around them.

"What's that noise..." Julius muttered.

Far in the distance, at the foot of the tower, they could see a large angry crowd, seemingly waiting for them. "Um, might they be under the archbishop's control?" Kiritaka asked nervously.

"It seems so... as Subaru-dono said, they will try to attack us if we provoke wrath, so we should restrict their movements before we engage in our attack... Julius-kun, we await your command..." The leader of the White dragon scales, Dios, said as he turned to Julius.

"I'll proceed forward and distract wrath, in that time, Lilianna will break them out of Wrath's mind control and you all will get as many citizens away as far as possible, we don't know the range in which her authorities work, so just tell them to keep running... our priority is to keep everyone safe"

"Alright, my song will snap them out of their trance!"

They all nodded at each other and went forth.

.

There they were now in front of the blazing tower, on the top was a cloaked figure wrapped up in several bandages with golden chains hanging from her sleeves. She laughed out maniacally and leaped down lower to talk with Julius, who stood unfazed by the gigantic flame.

"I've lit the place up especially so you could find me! So, tell me, dear, have you brought what I've been seeking..." She said with a crazed look on her face.

"Yes... I present to you, the book of wisdom..." He tossed over to her the gospel Subaru handed to him during the meeting and she caught it with her chains. She brought it in and hugs it tightly, she muttered incoherent things and squealed insanely.

"AHH! Thank you, thank you so much! You really are a generous, kind, considerate, benevolent person! Ahhh, you must have so much love for this city that you complied with my request, the love you show when you want to protect things, love! It drives us to such lengths, it is what governs us, you have shown us this love, all of you! You all have love!"

As Sirius continued with her ongoing rambles about love and the like, Lilianna was quietly breaking the crowd from the mind control and they were lead away one by one by the White Dragon's Scale and Kiritaka.

"Now... I must see..."

Sirius starts flipping through the pages, clearly ecstatic about what lies within the book, "..." but all she could see was gibberish, something she couldn't understand, her face then turned to one of fear, she turned the pages, one by one, unfathomable letters were what appeared, nothing that she can read, this wasn't the book of wisdom, this was a witch cult's gospel and the particular stench.

"Him..." She muttered as she loosely hung the book in her arm, "This was 'His' gospel... this isn't the book of wisdom!"

She slammed the book down on Julius, he stepped back and unsheathed his sword, his spirits floating around him. "Sirius, Sin Archbishop of Wrath, I, Julius Jukulius, shall not let you bring harm to anyone else in the city!" He announced as he pointed the tip of the blade at her.

"Julius... Julius!? You, you are the one that took my husband! You, that damned Half-elf, and that child!" The fire around her suddenly grew larger and was tinted red. She whipped her red-hot chains around, several nearby buildings were set ablaze and they were heading for the fleeing citizens, "El-Dona!" several magic users put up stone walls between them, blocking the chains.

"Fell Huma!"

Two of this six quasi-spirits, Kua and Aro went over to Julius's hand, he swipes at Sirius's direction and a wild torrent of wind and hail was blasted at the tower, giving Sirius several cuts and mildening the flames.

"Foolish!"

The dying flame revealed that the tower was wrapped around with her golden chains, "Behold, my undying love, my undying Wrath!" the chains combusted, lighting up the tower even hotter than before, rendering his previous attempt futile.

"This is my Wrath! The one bestowed upon me by my beloved, my oh so dearest!"

Spinning her molten chains around, the fire kept on burning hotter, at this rate, she's going to cook them all to death. Julius faces his palm at her and with a loud voice, he chants, "Phla Illium!" All six of his spirits circled around his hand and out, shot a beam of light.

Sirius jumped of the building letting the beams destroy part of it. The top of the tower suddenly collapsed down heading straight towards Julius, he ran back but it seems it would be too fast to dodge.

"Ul Jiwald!" Several light spheres were shot at the falling debris and it was blasted into tiny fragments. From the dust clouds, Sirius appeared, unleashing them with a flurry of strikes from her chain. The group put up more stone walls and ice barriers "Stupid, idiotic, silly, inane!" She spat out those insults as she broke through each one by one.

"El-Clarista"

Julius came out and slashed at her chains with his magic imbued sword. A blast of energy was released, pushing her back into the wall, he then proceeds to thrust the sword at her. She somersaults backward onto higher ground to dodge it, Julius followed her.

Their weapons clashed head-on and it was obvious who was winning, the heat was starting to wear Julius down and they were surrounded by fire so the others had a hard time trying to interfere.

"Die, die, die!"

She whipped her chains at Julius, slightly grazing his skin in many places, and in addition to the heat, it felt like his blood was boiling, "El-Fula!" he points his sword downwards and stabs in to the ground, a blast of wind escapes from it, pushing away Sirius and putting out the ring of fire they were in.

"Don't think my wrath can be put out so easily!"

She whipped her chains once more, this time, Julius can't dodge it, "Don't even think about it!" Dios appeared between them and the chains clashed with his metallic kite shield. The chains wrapped around the shield and burnt his hands a bit but he withstood the pain and was able to tackle her back.

"Julius-kun!"  
"Subaru has underestimated her... this will be a hard battle... but we must proceed!"

Her chains were shot out again, Julius deflected it with his sword and Dios ducked under it. The chains kept on going and crashed into a building, bringing it down, "Ul-Dona!" Dios got near Julius and formed an earth dome around them, safely protecting them from the falling debris.

"Hiding? From my wrath!?"

The dome of earth was instantly broken down by her metal chains that were now on fire, she whipped it quickly, making it wrap around their bodies, burning them.

"HAAHAHAHA!"  
"Fell HUMA!"

Julius unleashed another burst of hail in their direction, pushing her back and cooling them down. They quickly removed the molten chains, they left dark burn marks on their skin and clothes but none of that matters, Julius summoned Kua to heal the two while the others members of the White Dragon's Scale fire from a distance.

"Jiwald!"  
"El-Huma!"  
"Fula!"

Their attacks were either dodged or deflected by her chains, it seemed that Sirius was too strong for them to even approach, and on top of that, if they do manage to hit her, according to Subaru, they'd get hurt as well, so they have to be startegic with how they fight her.

"Dios-dono, I have a plan, I'm going to need your assisstance..."

.

"Die, die, die! None of you deserve to live, so die!" She screamed as she whipped her chains at everyone, her eyes were now devoid of their bluish purple and was completley filled with fiery red. She threw her chains ontop of several buildings and activated her authority, setting them ablaze.

All the citizens including Kiritaka and Lilianna have left the battlefield so they don't have to worry about them, but seeing how skilled Sirius was, they didn't know if them leaving would make any difference.

"Useless, superflous, disposable fools! You don't understand my love! You don't deserve to be shown any! So die! Die to my wrath!"

Her outburst was followed by more flames, her entire body now engulfed in flames, though it didn't seem like it affected her even a little bit.

"Fell Goa!"

From the tip of Julius's blade, a fire storm was shot out towards Sirius, it was like a blazing tornado as it swirled around Sirius, sucking up rubble and fire inside as it grew bigger. It quickly died down, taking the fire away with it, leaving a ruffled up Sirius at it's base.

"Is that all you have! You plan to take me just like you took my husband but this is all you can do!"

She launched her chains at Julius who dodged it and jumped down to confront her, "I do plan to take you down just like I took down Sloth with Subaru, I remember it clearly, how I stabbed him in his chest as he was screaming out the name of the Witch, asking why wasn't he loved..."

"GRAAH! DIE!"

Sirius's chains lit up agian and she started slamming them at Julius, he dodged and deflected every single one, he fleed back into a building, Sirius went on to pursue him.

"I'll kill you! I'll kill you! I'll kill you! He didn't deserve to die to the likes of you! My dear Betelgeuse! I'll avenge you! With my wrath, the wrath you've given me, I'll kill them all, I'll torture that boy, I'll kill that damn half-devil, I'll burn all of them!"

Her chains smashed through the support, the cieling falling down, "Goa!" Julius had La blast a hole through the wall and escaped through that, Sirius just destroyed the whole thing with her molten chains and jumped out.

Julius ran over to a large stone wall and jumpe onto it, he saw Sirius's chains incoming and had Aro use a blast of wind magic to direct it away from him.

"This is where you end! Fula!"

With his sword stabbed onto the wall, a blast of wind magic launched him off the stone wall and far behind Sirius. He landed with a roll and quickly turned to face Sirius, all his six spirits were out and were circling his sword, "The sword that killed Sloth, will be used to defeat you as well!"

"GAAAAH! DIE!"

A mass of molten chains shot through her sleeves and went straight for Julius. He readied his blade, now shining brightly, "Al-Clarista!" The blast of destructive energy was shot out from it, completley countering her attack, he then, readied his blade once more, "Phla Illium!"

Another beam was shot out in several directions, but it missed Sirius, "Lousey shot!" She said as she got her chains ready for another attack. Julius just smirked and sheathed his sword, "I wasn't intending on hitting you in the first place... wrath..."

The beams collided with the stone wall and destroyed it's base, the whole thing swaying to the side, crumbling down at Sirius. She tried to jump away but found that she was pinned to the ground by a mysterious force.

"AAAH!" She screamed out of frustration.

Julius had his bloodied hand held out with Nes, his Yin spirit at the tip of his hand, "You aren't running away from this one, Sirius!"

Seeing that she isn't going to move anytime soon, she screamed out and burst into flames, the air around her heated up and created an upward current, pushing back some of the falling debri, but it wasn't enough, there were still rocks that smashed to the ground.

"GKH!"

Julius felt his whole body shudder in pain, he fell to the ground clutching his wounds. Several mercenaries came from behind him and started healing him, Dynas came up to him "Julius-sama, hang in there, we'll finish her off"

"No, we can't kill her... if we do, everyone nearby will die..."

.

The battle had, at last, ended. many were injured badly due to the fire and falling rubble but they were all alive, thankfully. Sirius was dug up from the pile of rocks, clearly hurt but not dead, she was knocked out by Julius's last attack.

She was tied up and brought over by Dynase and the White Dragon's Scale to one of the evacuation centers. Dios, Julius, and a few other mages were still on the scene trying to put out the fire. "Mighty fine plan back there, how do ya think the others are faring?"

"Well, seeing that Subaru has underestimated Wrath's skill, I fear they may have a harder time than us... Though I'm mostly worried about Subaru, he's not really the best in combat sense, even though he has the great spirit Beatrice at his side, I've heard her power was greatly diminished during a past incident..."

"Must be great friends, you two huh?"  
"Friends is a strong word, casual acquaintances you could say..."  
"I see..."

Julius casted another Fell Huma to take down the last of the flames and with that, they were done, "Okay then Asta, Rookfelt, Hicks, we're going back!" "Yes, Dios-sama!"

"Hehe, big mistake..."

As they were turning around to leave, a young boy appeared, with ruffled hair and torn clothes a sadistic smile plastered onto his face, "We meet again... Juli-san~" he chimed at them.

"Hey... Ju-" Dios tried to call out to Julius but Julius just covered his mouth and glared at the boy "Roy Alphard, Sin Archbishop of Gluttony!"

"Ahahaah, you remember me!" Everyone gasped and shuddered in fear, they just said their names aloud in front of a memory eating beast, the worst possible thing to happen, "Now, we have a buffet..."

They had to fight another archbishop right after they defeated the one, in their condition, they have almost no chance of winning, but they had to try, "El-Dona!" One of the chanted, spiked rocks sprouted from the ground towards Roy, he crouched and jumped up, letting it graze his cheek a bit, then he clung onto the top, licking the blood trickling down.

"Hehe... Authority of Gluttony! Lunar Eclipse!"

Suddenly, a dark and sinister aura formed around him, his eyes struck them with fear and despair, "J-Juli! What do we do!?" "We have to hold him back until backup comes! As I mentioned before, Gluttony has an ability that allows him to speed up his movements, fast enough for it to seem like he's dissapearing!"

Julius had In cast buffs on everyone, increasing their speeds so they could at least dodge Roy's attack, his sword was ready and his other hand was already casting a spell, "Kua, El-Eisen!"

Bolts of ice were shot out towards Roy, but he easily dodged it, the bolts smashed onto the rocks and froze a chunk of it, "Trying to slow me down won't do you any good, Juli..."

Roy appeared behind Julius, ready to slice his back with his twin swords, but "Juli-sama!" He was tackled to the side by Hicks. Roy kicked up and tried to slice at him, but he barely blocked it with his own blades. Roy then proceeded to plant his hand to his face but he got kicked away by Dios.

"Don't think your getting it easy on us!"  
"Mhh... thanks for the meal... Hicks..."

He licked his hand that touched Hicks's face and he grinned joyfully, "Oi, you okay!" Dios tried to get Hicks up, he manages to get up but started clutching his head, "Are you okay!"

"Urgh... hurts... where, am I..."  
"Don't joke around Hicks!"

"It's too late, HAHAH! I've already taken his memories to satiate my never ending hunger, my gluttonous hunger, now I'll have the main course!"

Roy lunges over to Dios, but he blocks with his shield, and shoves him away towards Julius. Julius swings his sword at him, but Roy lands on the side of the blade and flips up, kicking Julius on the back.

"ARGH!"

Rookfelt tried to stab him with his daggers but only managed to graze by his clothes as he twirled around and slashed his face with his sword.

"You bastard!" Asta swung longsword at Roy but he turned around and blocked it with his twin swords. He then pushed forward and headbutted her in the gut, she fell to the ground and Roy put his hand on her face.

"In, Jiwald!"

Julius fires a light beam at him but Roy just twist his body and the beam misses him completely, "Itadakimasu!" He says as he licks his hand again. "HAHA! So much food!"

"Asta!"

"Maybe I'll take your name as well..." He licks his hand once again, and everyone suddenly felt an odd emotion, loss, they felt like something was taken from them, but they don't know what it was.

"Dona!" Dios sent a blast of dust, dirt, sand and the like at Roy, blinding him momentarily, Rookfelt then charged forward with his daggers while he was distracted but he suddenly disappeared, a gust of wind blew the dust away.

Roy came from above and slice at Rookfelts back and he fell to the ground. Dios then tries to tackle him once more, but Roy saw it coming and moves away. He disappears once more and a gust of wind goes circles around Dios, "Wind magic?!"

"HAHAH!"

It wasn't wind magic, actually, it was Roy, moving fast enough that after images started appearing. Dios couldn't keep up with him, trying his best to find an opening for him to strike in, but he was assaulted by a flurry of attacks before he could even think about it.

"You're a big meal..." As Dios was trying to block the barrage of slices, he had dropped his shield. Roy kicked him in the gut, making him uncover his face, Roy placed his hand on his face, he kicked off of Dios and licked his hand, twice.

"Two more... Rookfelt, and Juli..."

He looked crazily at the other two. "You monster..." Julius said as he helped Rookfelt up. "Juli-sama... we may not make it at this rate..." "It doesn't matter, we have to hold him up or else the whole city is in danger!"

Julius charged forward and clashed blades with Roy, Rookfelt then went from the side to stab Roy but he was able to twist his body and wrap his legs around Rookfelt's neck, putting him in a headlock, he puts his hand onto his face and licks it.

"HAHAHH!"

Julius used wind magic to blow him off of Rookfelt. Roy landed safely on his feet and licks his hand once more, again, the feeling of loss struck Julius.

Roy then lunges up once more, Julius raised his hand, La was in his palm, "Goa!" A flame was shot out from his hands and was headed towards Roy, but he just slashed it away with his twin swords and his hands grasped out to reach for Julius's face, but just before he did so, Julius grabbed his hand.

"I'll end you here!" His readied his other hand, that was holding his sword. "Clarista!" He slashed it upwards towards Roy, and a blast of energy was unleashed. He could faintly feel a touch on his forehead as he flew back.

Roy got launched off onto a roof, now all bloodied but he was ecstatic. "Now it's your turn..." He raised his hand, in the last second, Roy used his other hand to slightly touch Julius's face, so he should be able to eat him, but he doesn't know his "Julius... Jukulius!"

Julius was shocked, he hasn't mentioned his name ever and none of his comrades had said it, so, "I don't only eat memories you know... once their inside, their mine!"

.

Julius looked around, the damage caused by the battle was far deadlier from what he had originally expected, and what's worse, many of his group had fallen to Gluttonies authority. Two of which he didn't know of, and one had lost their memories.

"At least it didn't all end in vain..."

With the assistance of an amnesic Hicks, Julius carried the other two by his back, he was exhausted of both his mana and his stamina. Another battle had ended...

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Wooh, back with the regular uploads! Now, this fight scene, or fight scenes I should say was amazing don't you think? Onto some explanations**

 _ **Dios: OC character I made as the leader of the White Dragon's Scale mercenary group, he doesn't exist in the actual story**_

 _ **Fell Huma: You know, it's like Fell Goa, but it's ice instead of fire**_

 _ **Dynas, Rookfelt, Hicks, and Asta: All actual characters from the story, go check in the wiki**_

 _ **El-Eisen: Magic I made up, It's freezing magic, you throw ice bolts, they freeze the area of impact, simple right?**_

 **There will be a lot more OC characters and magic so I'll have to do a lot of explaining. So before you guys leave and do whatever you do with your lives, care to help me out a bit? I need help with naming magic I'm going to use later on so...**

 **Q. If there was magic that would increase your speed, what would you want the incantation to be?**

 **I'm terrible at coming up with this kind of stuff so help is appreciated,** _ **I'll probably mix all the ones I get into a new one...**_


	17. Chapter 16: Undesired Passion

**Chapter 16: Undesired Passion**

Wilhelm walked into the destroyed building, with his blade in hand. A lone figure stood in the middle of the room as if waiting. "So we finally meet again... after all these years... Thearesia..." Wilhelm called out to her.

She just stared at him with lifeless eyes as she raised her sword, her red hair flowing with the wind, her dark dress covering most of her body.

"Let us finish this once and for all..."

* * *

On the top floor of the city hall, Crusch, Anastasia, and Felix stood with their heads to the sky, waiting for a certain something to arrive. "There is no doubt she'll come over, it's like hanging a slab of meat in front of a hungry dog, they're bound to come running..."

"Sorry for questioning ya, but you sure you wanna do this?" Anastasia asked Crusch as she stroked her fox scarf. "From what I saw, Natsuki-kun was doing fine with those 'Dragon veins'..."

"Even so... it may cause undesired consequences in the future, and it would be my fault was that to happen... also, I don't think I've felt so indebted to someone in my whole life, first the Hakugei and now this..."

"Ah, if it's clearing your debts then I can totally relate"

"She's coming -nya..."

In the night sky, a black dragon came into view, if it weren't for the bright flames, they would have trouble spotting it. It landed right in front of them, it's yellow eyes staring at them as if it saw them as trash.

"How kind of you shits to just hand yourselves over Kahahaa! You know, I just might consider keeping you for last so that you can see all the wondrous things I'm about to do to anyone who sees me differently" She sneered at them. She raised her claws and was about to strike but Crusch raised her sword at her, and Capella noticed her arm has returned to normal, which shocked her. "What? No that's not possible!"

She stomped her foot and glared at Crusch, "My authority can't be bypassed, healing magic shouldn't have work, your hand should be numb by now so why are be able to move it? What happened to the blood I gave you!"

"I had a friend take care of it" Crusch replied with a stern voice.

"Impossible, unimaginable, unthinkable!" She rampaged around the room, destroying the walls and boring holes on the floor, "It was that shit bag wasn't it! I knew he smelt funny, I knew it! How dare he! He thinks he's so~ great, well I'll show him! I'll show that shit bag what hell he gets for taking me for granted! I'll fuck that bastard up real good!"

Capella raised her wings but they were chopped down by a blast of wind. Crusch flung her sword at her, stabbing it through her leg making her fall to the ground, "Your not going to lay a hand on Subaru before going through me!"

She raised her uninjured arm and chanted, "Ul-Fula!" A raging windstorm started to form around Capella, slicing at her from all sides. She was picked up by the gust of wind and was slammed around the room, smashing her body around, decapitating her limbs, until it stopped.

Her body parts lay motionless on the floor on a pool of black blood, "Well... that was surprisingly easy, why didn't ya just do that in the first place?"

"It's not over yet, Anastasia..."

From the pile of dislocated limbs, a head popped up, followed by arms and legs until a full body can be seen, the other parts seem to dissolve into the blood on the floor. The figure walked flicked her hair up and glared at the three. "Kah, you thought that was enough to finish me off? You've got to be kidding me, you're going to have to use something a hundred times stronger than that to even start to scratch me!"

"That wasn't intended to finish you... Ferris!"  
"Take this -nya!"

Felix pulled a lever beside them, and the floor suddenly opened up like a trap door, swallowing Capella down it. She fell face first to the floor, a large 'crack' sound can be heard, several bones definitely broke during the impact.

She got back up, her neck snapped back into position, her limbs were reformed, it was as if nothing had ever happened to her. "Keh, is that all you have!"

* * *

Their swords clashed hard, sparks flying off of their blades. They retracted, and then struck again, and again, and again. "This really does bring me back to the old times..." Wilhelm said as he skillfully thrusts his sword forward.

She parried it and gave him a spin kick to the side which he blocked with his arm.

She just stared at him, lifelessly. "It's been fourteen years yet you refuse to speak to me? The damned cult really can't be forgiven... let us end this Thearesia..."

He rushed forward stabbing at her shoulder, which earned him a slice to the cheek. She follows with a low sweep, which Wilhelm jumped over. He then tried to slice at her once more but the sudden pain from his right shoulder made him miss his strike. Theresia then kicked him away.

Wilhelm moved his sword to his other hand and blocked a strike from Theresia. She then spun around with her sword, creating invisible slashes that went straight for him. Wilhelm dodged them, as if he memorized where they were going to hit, and landed a strike at her waist.

She flipped back and launched a piece of wood towards Wilhelm with her feet, he easily cut it down and continued to attack her with endless strikes. The attack was too fast for her to dodge and her posture made it very difficult to parry so she had to take the attack head-on.

Wilhelm slashed at her once again but she dodged, the wood beam acting as support to the ceiling broke and the ceiling came crashing down on the two, splitting up Thearesia and Wilhelm to seperate corners of the room.

* * *

"There ya are, ya fucker!"

Garfiel slammed his shields down on the large figure, causing the sidewalk to cave in. He was pushed out but landed on his feet. The figure got up slowly, removing his dark gray cloak, he revealed his eight arms, two of which were holding onto greatswords.

"Let's settle this here an now Kurgan!"

Garfiel dashed forward with his twin shields, they clashed with the greatswords but Garfiel slipped under him and gave him an uppercut, he fell back but was able to grab Garfiel before he jumped back. He slammed him over to a nearby building, but Garfiel was able to touch the ground just before that and activated his Divine Protection of Earth spirits.

"Hwuah!"

He leaped out of the building and tried to kick Kurgan, he used one of his six free arms to block the strike then tries to attack back with his greatswords but Garfiel flipped back, he slammed his foot to the ground, which caused a crack that reached all the way past Kurgan.

He lost his balance, Garfiel saw his chance and went for another punch, though his arm was stopped by one of his, and he was about to slice him apart. But Garfiel's arm suddenly began to grow in size, golden fur starting to sprout from it, he was able to grapple his arms out before the blade reached, then, he rammed him with his shields.

As they hit the floor, Kurgan dropped his swords and grabbed Garfiel with all his eight hands, trying to choke him. Garfiel struggled to get out of the man's grip so he let out a loud roar. His whole body then started to grow, his muscles growing so big that Kurgan's arms were forced to let them go.

"GRAUUUUH!"

Now, on top of Kurgan was no longer Garfiel, it was just a tiger, the Gorgeous Tiger, he was being crushed under his heavy weight. He was able to flee by sacrificing three of his arms, he rolled back and got his swords again.

* * *

Wings grew out of the back of Capella, and she flew up and smashed through the floor, she scorned at them, "I was planning to spare you but you meat sacks just don't know when to fucking stop now do you!"

Her skin then turned into scales, her head was now spiky, her mouth was filled with rows of sharp horrid teeth, and her yellow eyes glared at him. "Fuckin die you scumbags!"

Her mouth gaped open and black fire was launched at them. Crusch slashed at it with her sword and launched her Hundred Man Strike, cutting through the flames, the strike hitting Capella as well, though Capella recovered quickly and launched another fiery breath at them, Crusch tried to strike at it again but her hand was too strained and she dropped her sword.

"Anastasia-sama!"

Several magic attacks were set loose and neutralized the black flame, from behind the three emerged several members of the Fangs of Iron, "Sorry, Anastasia-sama, we rushed as fast as we could once we saw the dragon heading here!"

"Kah, shit bags..."

She set the floor in front of them on fire, making them back away, "Stay fresh until next time fuckers!" And she flew away.

The fire kept on growing and spreading, Crusch, Felix, and the Fang of Iron members tried to put out the fire with their magic but it kept spreading so they retreated out of the City hall.

.

They had reached the outside, half of the hall was already burnt down, fortunately, they have evacuated all the Lust affected citizens, so no one was hurt.

* * *

Garfiel charged forward, now in his tiger form, with his newfound strength, he slammed onto Kurgan, but due to his size, he was much slower so Kurgan was able to dodge that otherwise, deadly blow.

Kurgan tried to slash at him with his greatswords but he grabbed them with his bare hands, with their arms now locked, Garfiel then headbutted him but he blocked it with his other hands, minimizing the damage. Kurgan tumbled back as Garfiel chased him, he was going to land another deadly blow but Kurgan was able to stab onto his shoulders, he then gave a strong punch to his gut, but Garfiel just braved through the pain and bit at his shoulders, ripping it out with his mouth.

Kurgan jerked the swords out of his shoulders, and Garfiel howled in pain. He tries to claw at him but Kurgan dodges yet and stabs his sword at Garfiel's chest. Garfiel squashed him under his weight, making the sword cut deeper into his skin.

Kurgan was able to kick him off and flee back, but he couldn't find an escape route as the area was blocked off by running water and destroyed rocks. He turned back to Garfiel but a rock was slammed at his face.

He pushed it off but was slashed at by Garfiel with his huge claws, he bit into his chest and slammed him into the wall, and finally, he crushed his head with his foot, leaving the body limp on the ground.

Garfiel slowly transformed out of his tiger form while he takes the sword out of his chest, he fell back as he felt his consciousness slowly fading.

 _Kurgan has been defeated_

* * *

Theresia was slammed into the wall, and she let out a whimper, something other than grunts and attacking cries. Wilhelm sheathed his sword as the battle had already finished, and he walked up to the unarmed Theresia, she raised her head up and looked at him, the slightest hint of life in her eyes could be seen fading away.

"Wil... helm..."  
"T-Thearesia!"

On the call of his name, Wilhelm rushed over to her side, holding her in his arms, "Wilhelm... is that... really you?" "Y-Yes... it's me..."

A smile crept across her face as her eyes struggled to keep open, "I'm glad... to see you one last time..." Wilhelm smiled back and held her head up, "You're beautiful as ever... I love you... Thearesia..."

"So you finally feel like it..."  
"Yes..."  
"Then... I love you too... Wilhelm..."

Her arms grew weak, the blue in her eyes was fading away fast, she "Just... promise me..." she tried to speak, "Don't be mad... at Reinhard... or Heinkel..."

"Of course!"

He pulled her into a final embrace as she turned into dust, "I... should have never been mad at them... it was just me trying to let out my powerlessness... I really should apologize... it's only right, Thearesia..."

 _Thearesia has finally been put to rest_


	18. Chapter 17: Hunger beyond Satiation

**Warning this chapter wasn't Proofread**

* * *

 **Chapter 17: Hunger beyond satiation**

* * *

Otto and some of the Fangs of Iron had split up with Ricardo and the others as they chased off Gluttony's witch cultists, each making up a group of six to seven fighters.

Ricardo, with his nickname being Kobold-san, had run into Roy Alphard and several cultists.

Roy gave them a disgusting smile as he ordered the other cultists to attack. Ricardo shouted out a shockwave, similar if not the same as Mimi, Tivey, and Hetaro's. Those that were near enough to him got ripped to shreds while the farther ones just got shot back.

"Come, come and feed my never-ending, my undying, my unwavering hunger! This is gluttony, gluttony controls us, through instincts or through thought, gluttony would take control!"

Roy laughed and lunged at them, his tongue was stuck out, saliva drooling from his open mouth. Ricardo swung his cleaver at him, but Roy put a hand on its side and flips over it, "Authority of Gluttony, Lunar Eclipse!" A gust of wind blew at Ricardo making him lose his balance, Roy was out of sight.

"I'll make you spit out your names and when you do, it's going in my mouth!"

Ricardo could see Roy's afterimages as he dodges several sword strikes and magic attacks.

* * *

Meanwhile, Otto, nicknamed Green Merchant, and the rest of the Fangs of Iron had run into a young boy, shorter than Otto himself, with hair that extended down to his knees. Otto could see from the way he was staring at his group that he wasn't one of the good guys, it didn't help that he had the witch cults daggers strapped onto the back of his hands.

"Looks like we have found you... Roy Alphard!"

The boy snickered and licked at his shoulders, blood was dripping out from a wound, "Roy Alphard... he's an eating machine, though, he's more concentrated on how much he eats rather than how much he eats... you see, that's not how eating works, you eat to give your taste buds the time of their life, that is I... Ley Batenkaitos, Witch cult's Sin Archbishop of Gluttony's way of seeing things..."

Everyone gave confused looks to each other, they were told that Roy was the Sin Archbishop of Gluttony, so who is this person, claiming to be the Sin Archbishop of Gluttony? Nonetheless, they all readied their weapons and were in battle position

"We are gluttony, gourmet, bizarre eating, satiation, all three of us! We will rid this world for our own cause..."

He raised his daggers to them and rushed forward, he tried to swing at Otto but he back off and let someone block the strike. Ley jumped back but before he could land his feet on the ground, "El-Dona!" It erupted upwards, sending Ley up to the sky.

The mages chanted several magic spells, ice bolts, wind blasts, and light spears shout out towards Ley. It seemed like it was their win, as Ley can't block them with only his daggers, nor could he dodge it.

"Authority of Gluttony, Lunar Eclipse!"

He started cackling, a dark mist shrouds him and he was gone, the magic attacks missed completely and collided with a building, blowing off the roof.

Everyone got on their feet, spread a few feet apart. They could feel the wind zip around them, the sound of giggling following it. Suddenly, blood spurted out and down to the ground, several Fang's of Iron members fell to the ground, clutching onto their wounds.

Otto felt something come behind him, he turned around and received a headbutt straight to the gut, though, he held his position and was able to land a solid hit on Ley's face. They both recoiled back, Ley disappearing once again.

"Green Merchant!?"  
"I'm fine..."

Otto was helped back up to his feet, he checked around for the casualties, three seemed to be three injured, excluding him, everyone else seemed fine.

"A merchant..." Everyone jerked their heads to Ley's voice, now sounding more sinister, it was laced with hatred, "I think I may have to settle this in a more... serious manner..."

"Wha-" Before anyone could say anything, Ley had already vanished once more, a strong gust of wind passed them, followed by several cuts and rips, and gushes up blood. Before they could comprehend what was happening, they had already fallen to their knees.

All of them had been stabbed several times, in non-vital areas, but even so, it hurt, a lot. Many have already fainted from the pain, with Otto and two others still able to stand up. Ley walked in front of them, and looked at Otto with disgust, "Merchants... people who place prices on things and sell them to fill their pockets. Dead people who place the values and opinions of people on a scale before calculating... disgusting..."

Ley thrusts his daggers at Otto, he tilted his head and shoved himself to the ground to avoid the attack, he rolled to his sides and struggled to get up. "Looks like my aim messed up... that girl really hit me hard in the head..."

He raised his hand once more, and swung it, intending to slice Otto's head clean off. Otto reacted by putting his arms to his face to somehow block the hit, but it didn't come.

"Huh...?"

Otto moved his arms away, he saw that the dagger was only an inch away from his face, "What is this..." Ley muttered, unable to move his arms further.

"You should think twice before letting your guard down like that, I suppose... had you swept faster you might have made it to his arms at least..."

The two turned over to the owner of that voice, it was a girl with twin-drills, wearing an extravagant magenta dress with white frills, she held her hand out, on it was a staff. Otto's eye's widened and he opened his mouth, "Bea-" but he quickly covered it to stop himself from giving away her identity.

"Watch your mouth, slug!" She swept her arm to the side and Ley was slammed into a wall, Otto scurried over to her side not letting Ley out of his sight, "U-Um... might I ask where you got that staff from?"

"One of the cat triplets gave me hers, I'll have to return it to her after I've dealt with this..."

* * *

Ricardo tried to look around for Roy but before he could spot him, he appeared behind him and kneed him in the back of his head, "El-Huma!" several ice spears shot out towards Roy but he sliced at them with his swords and vanished again.

"Ul-Goa!"

One of the witch cultists summoned a fireball and shot it straight for Ricardo, he held up his cleaver and slammed it, intending to knock it back, but it detonated before his cleaver could even touch it. The blast sent Ricardo flying back, parts of his skin and fur were burnt and most of his cleaver was in pieces, from his position, he could see Roy circling his fellow members, toying with them, this angered him.

He grunted as he got up, "Take this ya damn sicko!" he flung the handle of his cleaver at him, bits of metal being flicked off from the remaining metal stub. The spinning projectile was able to scratch Roy by the cheek, enough to make him lose balance and tumble down to the ground.

Ricardo rushed forward to grab him, but several cultists blocked him on his way, "Ul-Goa!" They summoned fireballs and shot it at him. He stomps his foot to the ground and glared at them, "HUWAAA!" Another shockwave was set loose and it pushed the fireballs back at the cultists, blowing them up.

From the dust emerged Roy, with an eerie smile plastered on his face. He was covered in blood, but definitely not his own. He was there only for a second as he disappeared the next, dust from the explosion was being blown straight at Ricardo. All of a sudden, Ricardo felt lighter, as if a weight had been taken off of his shoulders, then a gust of wind blew him down to the ground.

He struggled to get up, finding it difficult to feel with his right hand, so he just laid there, still. Red ribbons start wrapping around his field of vision and into the ground, growing into a big pile, that was blood, wasn't it? He looked further and he saw a lump on the ground, his eyes widened as he realized that his right arm was cleanly cut off.

"RHAAAAGH!"

He screamed out in pain as he clutched his wound, trying to stop the blood from spilling out, Roy and the remaining cultists had already retreated, many of the Fang's of Iron were down, the ones who weren't were helping the injured up. Ricardo could only curse under his breath at his failure.

"My lady... 's not gonna like this..."

* * *

Ley came out of the hole from the building, pushing the rubble out of his way, he was smiling madly, "Bea... Beatrice... sama?" he asked them. The two stared at him wide-eyed, that was all he needed to know he hit home, "And that disgusting merchant... Otto-kun..."

"No... who did you eat, I suppose! Minya!"

Beatrice aimed her borrowed staff at him and several purple bolts shot out of the air, Ley maneuvered around them, dodging each and every one of them, "Now, now, Beatrice-sama... you shouldn't get too cranky... otherwise, Subaru-kun would get mad!" After saying a line that was all too familiar to both of them, he laughed maniacally.

"Those were..."  
"No... you didn't!"

"Oho... but I did! And you're next!"

Ley lunged for Beatrice while she was momentarily stunned, Otto in the same state. Snapping out of it, Beatrice swept her staff once more, an unseen force blasted the area, uncovering Ley's position and shooting him back to the building, only this time he didn't crash into it. He managed to kick off of it and land back to the ground.

"Get the rest out of here, and find Her, if we still remember then it's not too late..." Beatrice commanded Otto and he obeyed. He scurried over, with the other two that were still standing, to where everyone else is, they picked them up and evacuated the area slowly.

"You're going to deal with me first... I suppose!"

Beatrice pointed the staff at him, he just chuckled and licked his wounds. He ran for her, Beatrice only taking a few steps back before slamming her staff onto the ground, "El-Lahm", a dark shadow covered the ground under Ley, he suddenly felt a force pulling him down, pinning him to the ground.

The opposite of Murak, Lahm was a spell that increased the effects of gravity, with each level allowing Beatrice to increase it by power.

Ley couldn't do anything in this state, his whole body was pinned to the ground, arms, and legs, head even. Beatrice walked over to him and slammed the tip of her staff at his head, "Tell me... how do we return the names and memories of the people you've eaten, I suppose..."

"Hehe... you think I'll tell you... why don't you rip them out of me and find them!"  
"Very well then..."

Beatrice spun the staff around and slammed it to the ground, "El-Minya!" She summoned several purple Minya bolts around her and aimed to towards Ley. Though he couldn't quite see them, he knew they were there, by smell maybe?

He weakly whimpered, which ticked her off, she sent the bolts loose but before that, "Authority of Gluttony, Solar Eclipse!" Unlike with Lunar Eclipse, Ley wasn't shrouded in darkness, instead, he simply dashed away, leaving a streak of light behind him as he circled around her.

He turned to a stop and tried to land a kick at Beatrice, she cast Murak and lifted off the ground to dodge it. Beatrice noted that he didn't use his daggers against her, it was probably because they needed her so he was just trying to just knock her out, "That's my advantage, I suppose..."

Ley kicked back up and tried to aim a slice at her foot, but Beatrice put up a barrier between herself and Ley, she then slammed the staff onto his head. He fell to the ground, but immediately got off, the place where he was had already been littered with Minya bolts.

Beatrice touched the ground again, and fire more Minya bolts at Ley, he just spun around them and sliced at the ones he couldn't dodge. He was getting tired, his movements seem to slow down for a second before he used his authority again.

He appeared behind Beatrice and tried to slice at her the strike didn't hit, she teleported herself a few paces ahead to avoid the hit, then swung the staff at him, not reaching him due to her short arms, but that wasn't her intent. Ley felt some sort of force squeeze on him, it dragged him by the collar. Beatrice swept her open hand to the side and Ley was pulled in that direction, she swung it the other way, then back, then the other way again, and finally, she slammed him down to the ground, dust filled up the air, a crater formed under him.

"Betty shall finish this now, I suppose..."

* * *

Subaru and Emilia walked side by side as they were returning from their battle, worn out and tired, Satella was in her crystal.

"Haah, I really do hope that others are fairing better..."  
'Well, I doubt they did, we took the easiest enemy, so they're bound to suffer more damage than us..."  
"Then let's hurry, in case they need help, Subaru"  
"Right..."

They broke into a sprint, passing the collapsing buildings, it was still a ways to the city hall, and they were already tired, so the chances that they'd be any help was not very high. Just then Subaru felt something closing in on them, he grabbed Emilia and wrapped his around her.

"Suba-"

Before Emilia can comprehend what Subaru was doing, she heard metal stabbing into skin and Subaru released her from his grip and they both fell to the ground, tumbling down the sidewalk. "Gah!" Subaru grunted in pain. Subaru was breathing raggedly, prying off the sword that was thrown straight at his back. Emilia coming over to help him.

"The Gospel did say to be careful... I had underestimated you..."

After hearing the voice, Subaru summoned his Minya blade and had pointed it straight at the man. In front of him, the man stood tall, looking to be around forty-ish with a stern gaze, a single blade on his hand, "State your name, bastard..." Subaru spat out blood while he glared at him with his crimson eyes.

"Louise Arneb, Witch cult's Sin Archbishop of Gluttony..."

"Ella..."  
"There can be more than one set of Witch gene Subaru... and it seems Gluttony's have been released..."

"Khe... I'm suspecting you already know who I am?"

"Under normal circumstances, no, I would be clueless about your Identity, I'd have to be a bookworm like Roy or have eaten someone with a clear sense of your personality to be able to guess who you are..."

"Except this isn't a normal circumstance right? You mentioned your Gospel, so it was an order, I suppose..." Subaru gripped his sword tighter, Emilia was now up and had her weapons ready as she sided beside Subaru. "I thought the Gospel gave you vague hints about your next actions, not whole commands like, 'Find and hunt down so-and-so"

"Yes... I too am curious, this is the third time the Gospel has asked me to eat someone specifically, it provided me with not only their location, but the time, and their names... really, I don't get what's so important about it..."

Satella had already emerged from her crystal, standing beside Emilia and Subaru, "Who were the other two, victims you had to take? If you don't mind me asking..."

"Wilhelm van Astrea, I was supposed to take his name, but he was busy with his own personal matters, so I'll postpone him for later"

"Wilhelm-san...?"

He continued, "And the other one would be... Riesha Tinsel... it was quite easy taking her memories away..."

"Reisha... Tinsel! That's... Garfiel's mom!? Wait, she got killed in that rock avalanche... didn't she...?"

Subaru had a memory glance by, when he was looking through Garfiel's memories, there was one where he was talking to Garek, someone he knows of, but won't say why. He remembered seeing a memory where they talked, him saying 'What is your relationship with my wife?' He ignored it at first but then he came to realize what they were talking about.

"She was exiting a place called Sanctuary, I'm not aware what it was nor where it is, but the Gospel went as far as to give me directions. She was on a carriage, with a driver, there was an avalanche so attacking them was easy. I had attacked myself, but only because Roy and Ley weren't available..."

"Tch, so there's three of you..."  
'Subaru, Dona's trial only creates scenarios that are in your head... Garf could have thought his mom was dead because of a rock avalanche... not everything you think is true'  
"So... Riesha Tinsel can still be alive?"

"I've only taken her memories, so I'd guess so... though her whereabouts are unknown to me... and they won't matter to you after I'm done"

Subaru took a deep breath, should he tell this to Garfiel? He may not believe it at first, but he's sure to think about it and see that it makes sense, but Louise may just be spouting out nonsense, maybe his Gospel is making him do this, they'd never know. Getting false hopes up is worse than telling someone the harsh truth, especially for Garfiel.

'So Subaru... our priorities?'  
"You two go back and check on the others, I'll handle him, If I don't come back by... ten minutes, then we'll try again"  
'You sure about that?'  
"Totally!"

Subaru dashed ahead as Satella grabbed Emilia and ran the other way. Louise paid no attention to the two fleeing and concentrated on Subaru. Their swords clashed and locked, but Subaru had the upper hand as he had more strength due to his Authority of Pride, He was able to throw Louise off of his feet, he tried to continue with another slash but Louise used his hands to flip up.

Both retreated back by a few steps before Louise tried to attack again, he tried a high kick to Subaru's chest but Subaru grabbed his foot with his free hand. Louise just shrugged and used it to lift his body up, landing a stronger kick to his head which knocked Subaru off balance.

He flipped in the air a few times before reaching out with his hands to Subaru's face, Subaru glared as he saw it coming, he used his Minya blade to slice his hand clean off but Louise muttered "Lunar Eclipse..." Darkness shrouded him and he vanished, that would be what normally happened, but Subaru saw him literally kick the air and dodge his strike, it was like some sort of 'Double jump' thing.

Subaru steadied himself, he summoned several Minya bolts around him and a few unseen hands as well to guard his rear in case he attacked from behind.

"Sloth's ability... while it is invisible, it's interference isn't..." Louise said with his woman-ish voice, he pointed behind Subaru. For Subaru, he can't really see what Louise was talking about since the unseen hands are blocking the view, but he suspects that it was the dust that they were pushing around, it gave their position away.

"Not like it's gonna help you what so ever!"

Subaru rushed forward, his hands letting the stationary Minya bolts loose, Louise tried to dodge, but he found himself stuck to the ground, shadows anchoring him to the ground. He activated Lunar Eclipse and moved his body around all of them, Subaru tried to slice at him, which should have been easy were it not for his authority.

He twisted his body away from the blade and managed to stab his onto Subaru's side. Subaru forced himself to the left, rolling on the ground while he clutched his wound, his lost concentration freed Louise from the shadow's grasp and he was free to move.

"Don't think a little cut's gonna stop me!"

Subaru summoned several unseen hands towards Louise but he anticipated it, and within a blink of an eye, he was able to cut down all of them, without the need to really see them. This was something he saw Wilhelm and Julius do back when Betelgeuse attacked the village in one of the loops.

He then activated his authority again, circled around Subaru. Though he was able to see his blurry image, he wasn't able to prepare an attack on time and he knew it so he stayed on the defensive.

Louise kept on running around him, Subaru then felt him coming from behind and he spun back, spinning his blade while he does, he was able to parry a direct hit from him. Subaru arcs back places his hands on the ground doing a backflip. He was planning on kicking Louise while he was retreating, but he had already backed off far enough.

Subaru was given no time to rest as Louise rushed forward again. Subaru was too slow to dodge this and his hand was in no position to block the attack, so he had two options, take the hit, or hit back with something else.

"ARRGH!"

With a single motion, Subaru flicked his arm, as if he was waving but sideways, "EMM!" He could feel time stop around his hand, around his body, and the air around it. He let loose a large shockwave from his arm, it zipped past Louise as he dodges to the side, narrowly missing his face, cutting off a few strands of his hair. He felt nauesuos after casting the spell on his own.

They both fell, Louise tumbled a few feet farther than he did. They both got up, Subaru was out of breath, clutching his chest, Louise was surprised, "Replicating Greed's ability? How smart of you but..." He looked over at the wound he had caused at the side of his chest and saw that it was healed more or less, "Lust's ability... is more or less a surprise..."

"Hey, stop mumbling shit and fight already!"

Subaru had about a hundred Minya bolts ready behind him, he was about to attack then and there, what was he waiting for? "You're finally getting serious?" Louise asked him.

"I expect you to do the same!"  
"Very well then..."

The moment Subaru put his hands down, the Minya bolts fired at Louise, note the whistling sound it made as it ripped through the air. Subaru gave a smirk as Louise stood still in the storm of purple bolts, he couldn't possibly smash all of them, that was what Subaru thought, and he was right he _couldn't_ , and he didn't, he literally just phased through all of them and appeared in front of Subaru, "I'm serious now..." he muttered before slamming his hand onto Subaru's face, grabbing it for a brief second, then throwing him to the ground.

The Minya spears behind him didn't reach the ground, they shattered in mid-air, possibly due to the immense change in the air pressure when Louise ran past them at such a high speed.

Subaru was hit hard in the head, enough for him to throw up blood. He tried his best to get up but saw that he was being pinned to the ground by Louise, "Fuck this..." Subaru cursed, unable to really do anything as his head was all fuzzy, he might faint again.

"Your time ends here, Natsuki Subaru..."  
"Shit..."

Subaru could only watch as Louise put his left hand near his face, then lick it up with his tongue. He stared down at Subaru, a feeling of loss came over him, he was forgetting things, definitely, but what was he forgetting? He didn't know, just then Louise suddenly let go of him, he fell to the ground, barfing out black ooze, he clutched his head in agony, screaming out curses.

Subaru wasted no time in getting up and fetching his Minya blade, he walked up to Louise staggeringly, as he was still dizzy from the impact. He raised his hand and struck down on him, but Louise, despite hurling all over the floor in the first second, deflected his attack in the next, they both recoiled back and Louise fled, he tried to run away but he hit a wall.

He clutched his head in pain and glared at Subaru, "I took your memories... but... why can't I take them all..." He looked at the black puddle he vomited out of his mouth and clicked his tongue, "I lost some as well..."

After the pain in his head subsided, he took a glance at Subaru, he was fine, if you count the damage he probably got to his head, but he seemed ready to battle. Louise, seeing that his original plan didn't work out, he decided to flee, and flee he did, he jumped high, up to a building's rooftop, and left.

Subaru sat down, holding onto his head, what did he forget? Somethings lost? Why can't he remember them?

.

"Ul-Minya!"

From the tip of her staff, purple lights shot out towards Ley, he dodged them only to find that they were homing into him, he ran around, trying to escape from the lights reach but he fell straight into a shamak Beatrice summoned in front of him, he fell out with the lights wrapped around him, like a rope tied to a hostage.

"AHHH! How can I be beaten by the likes of you!"  
"Your movements resemble a hungry animal, I suppose, it wasn't hard reading your moves..."

"I ask you once more, I suppose... how do we free the memories and names you've eaten!"  
"You're asking me? Haha! As if I know, I've eaten them, they're in my stomach, where else would they be?!"  
"Then, I'll just have to rip your stomach off..."

The light around Ley had tightened it's grip, knocking out all the air out of his lungs. He tried to struggle out of it but it wasn't working, he tried Lunar Eclipse, it didn't work, he tried Solar Eclipse, it didn't work. He was trapped there, and it would be the end.

"No... no, I can't die now! I was promised! How can it end like this! No, don't let me die here!"

His cries weren't heard, no one was around to help him, Beatrice gripped the staff harder, light shone at the ground of where Ley was being held, he felt immense pressure from the ground, it was as if it was going to explode. Beatrice could see the fear in his eyes, the desperation, she scoffed at him, telling him to pipe down. From the edge of her field of vision, she could see something coming her way, it was a sword, but she couldn't dodge it, she didn't get the chance to as she was tackled out of the way, the sword dug deep into the pavement where she once stood.

Beatrice and the other person rolled on the ground, Ley was freed from the spell and made a mad dash away from them and to the rooftop, where someone was waiting for him.

Beatrice flicked her head up and was surprised to see it was Satella that had rescued her from what seemed to be a lethal strike. Beatrice gave her a sour look, "Are you expecting a 'thanks', I suppose?"

'Nope, your reaction was good enough, hehe...'  
"Hmph..."

The two looked over to the rooftops, there stood a tired out Ley, and Louise, with a grim expression on his face, "That's the artificial spirit we're looking for..." 'You better think twice before swooping down and finishing us off...' Satella warned him.

"We don't intend to, the table isn't set yet, and I could finish you in a second if I wanted to..."

'Hah, no you can't... Subaru would have already been dead by the time I took the first step back then, and he's all fine'  
"That's not at all reassuring, I suppose!"  
'Hey, I'm not Subaru, don't expect me to give some motivational speech...'

They glance at the two in the rooftop and confirmed that they have left, which made them breathe out a long sigh of relief. 'That bluff was a really close call, good thing he was a chill guy...'

"You tried to get us killed, I suppose! No, this isn't the time... something really bad happened"  
"Huh? What?"

"Just follow me I suppose..."

Beatrice led Satella down the sidewalk, to the first shelter, giving her her own cloak to disguise herself. She wishes that whoever Ley ate, it wasn't her, she hoped.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **5000 words? Done! Did it! Ya! WOOHOOO! And before the deadline too!**

.

 **[ReviewR524]** : Happy _belated_ birthday, Subaru-saaan!  
 **[Subaru]** : Gee, thanks _for being 5 days late..,_  
 **[ReviewR524]** : Here's to another year of Sufferu! (Raises glass)  
 **[Subaru]** : Haah... why not... (Knocks glass together)  
 **[Subaru]** : Wait, was that a pun!?

.

ARGHHHH! I missed Su-san's birthday, darn it! I was on a plane, I had no choice but to silently weep in the lavatory instead of party at the Re: zero sub-reddit (T-T)

I haven't finished my updated Profile conversation, for anyone wondering

Let me educate you on ma spells brah:

Lahm: A spell that increases the effects of gravity on a person.  
El-Lahm: Same as Lahm but the user can concentrate its effects on a single thing.  
Ul-Lahm: Much stronger, much longer range, can affect several specific things.  
Al-Lahm: Produces a miniature 'controlled' black hole.

Trivia: Lahm is derived from the German word 'Lahm' that means Lame/Sluggish


	19. Chapter 18: Aftermath of the Assault

**Chapter 18: Aftermath of the assault**

A group of people stood in front of Subaru, their heads hung low.

"..."  
"..."

"Every single one of you!?" Subaru said while scratching his head, they all nodded "We won the war but man losing the battle still sucks! Who knew there could have been more than one archbishop for a sin... shit, I should have been more prepared for this!"

"S-Subaru, nothing could have been done..." Emilia said, patting Subaru on the back, "No Emilia-tan... they've lost their names and memories because of my plan, I take full blame for this! Man... what am I going to tell Ram..."

Subaru glanced over at Rem, she looked down, feeling ashamed of herself for some reason. He was told by Beatrice and Otto that Ley Batenkaitos took away her memories. Julius, who no one but Subaru remembers, had lost his name, along with several other White Dragon Scale's mercenaries to Roy Alphard.

"I really don't want to Return by Death..." He said in a low whisper but earned a jab to the stomach by a cloaked figure, Satella. "Tch... don't worry everyone, we'll find a way to return your memories and names, somehow..."

* * *

The overall damage to the Watergate City was pretty moderate, many buildings would have to be rebuilt, people would need to stay in the shelters for a while. Many were injured but the deaths were kept at a minimum with only a few bodies seen. Other casualties include the Gluttony and Lust victims, those who were transformed or are in a coma have been frozen until a cure has been found.

"Hey, Patarasche!" Subaru opened the stable doors and entered with Satella following behind him. "Sorry I kinda left you out of the action, everything's alright now so let's hang!"

The ground dragon let out a gleeful roar, mixed with a bit of relief and anger you could say. Subaru petted her scaling head and she nuzzled her snout up to him. "Here, an appa" He held one in front of her and she nipped bits off, Satella could be heard giggling behind him.

"Hey, why are you still out, get back in the crystal..."  
"Uwah!? That's cruel Subaru!"

"Come on, just let me stay out for a little bit!"

He continued to spoil Patarasche, making Satella pout really hard, but he just kept on neglecting her. She nudged him a bit and he turned to her, "What?" while twiddling her fingers she says bashfully, "I want to be spoiled too..."

"Ugh... fine, thanks for saving Beako back there..." He said while messing up her hair through the cloak. She didn't seem to hate it, but it wasn't what she expected, "Hm, that's a start..." she mumbled.

After a few more minutes of feeding Patarasche, Subaru leans over to the wall and faces Satella, "Serious talk, how do we get back their names and memories? I can't stand seeing Rem like this..."

"Hmm, well, authorities change with each new user, as far as I can recall, Daphne never had a memory eating ability, and I doubt beheading any of the gluttony users would lead to any memories returning, it would be too easy..."

"I do recall Louis spitting something out after he tried to eat my memories, he said something like 'I lost some'? I'm sure what he spat out was memories or names..."

"That would make sense... so Subaru, remembered what you forgot yet?"  
"Nice joke, and no, I haven't, I can remember all the important details, maybe it's the minute ones..."

Before they could continue on with their conversation, the doors opened again, and Julius entered in, making Subaru tense up. "Hm... J-Julius, how's it going?"

"Ah, Subaru... well, Anastasia-sama and everyone else really have no memory of me. It seems only your memories of us were retained..."

"I see, well that kinda sucks... how about your spirits"

"Well..." He raises his hands up, several orbs of light were floating around, but not touching it, "I have lost my connection to them, our contracts have been severed, but I think due to my divine protection and with the loss of their memories of me, they have been thrown into a state of confusion, they probably feel some kind of familiarity with me but aren't sure about it..."

"So why don't you just for another contract with them, you got that Divine protection of spirit attraction or something right?"

"Divine protection of Gathering spirits... and though it makes spirits like me more, I still need to put in effort so they'll actually like me, I'm sure no one would make a contract with any random stranger... unless their situation is dire of course..."

As Julius finished his line, he turned over to Satella with a curious look, "I don't think we have met before, apologies... Julius Jukulius, former knight to Anastasia Hoshin..." He said with a bow.

"Yo, my names Ella, just Ella, I'm... I'm just a passerby, no special titles or anything, nice to meet you Julius-san" She said while waving at him. "I'm sorry about what happened with Gluttony..."

"Please, you don't have to be, winning this without any casualties was... unavoidable, from my perspective, given the situation at the time, the amount of casualties was manageable... with Ferris and the other healers taking care of the injured, all that's remaining is the damaged buildings, the Lust, and the Gluttony victims, Anastasia-sama had already discussed a way to cure the Gluttony victims from their suspended animation with Crusch-sama and Emilia-sama..."

"Wait, they have?"

"Yes, though it's quite risky... it requires us to travel to the Pleiades Watchtower, it is where the sage resides, she theorizes that the sage may be able to help with our problem..."

"And this is dangerous because...?"

"The Pleiades Watchtower, it's been said that it is where the Witch of Envy, Satella, was sealed..." After hearing that one line, Subaru broke cold sweat, "It's also located in the Auriga Sand dunes, a place where a high amount of Miasma is stockpiled, there are no plants or animals there, and mostly Mabeast inhabit the area... no one who's gone to the sand dunes were able to return unscathed, many people lost their limbs only to come back to where they started and retreat.

Subaru stole a glance at Satella, she was quiet, looking down on the ground, he could feel her emotions, it was fear mixed with regret. It was a similar reaction to when Rem saw mayonnaise after the bath incident, so she was definitely traumatized by this place.

"Though... it's still up for discussion, Crusch isn't able to participate because of her injured arm, Anastasia-sama's mercenary group suffered major casualties, and I doubt you would move with three of your members out?"

"You kidding me? I'll rush in there and make that sage spit everything out, no way I'm gonna wait to get Rem's memories back! I'll go right now if I can!"

"Huh, your the same rash person as ever, though, it may be one of your more redeeming qualities?" Julius said with a smirk. "You wouldn't mind if I tagged along would you?"

"Eh, no problem there, but just so you know, I've got many good points, if gluttony didn't take Rem's memories, she'll give you a whole list of them! Oh, speaking of which, I should probably see how she's doing..."

"Okay then, until next time Lolimancer..."

"Yeah! Till next time Ju- Stop it with the Lolimancer!" Subaru went over to door and looked back, "Hey Ella! You coming or what?"

"...H-Huh!? Oh, yeah, I'm coming!"

* * *

The two walked side by side, scanning the area and measuring the damage done to the buildings, "Your out of it, what's wrong? You'd be clinging to my arm by now, why hasn't that happened yet?"

She looked away for a moment, but looked back slowly, "Well... I'm just... a little bit nervous... you can say"

"Don't give me that crap, your completely terrified aren't you?"  
"Okay yes... I'm not very fond of the idea of... you know..."  
"Right then, guess we'll find another way to fix Rem up..."  
"W-What!? No, you don't have to cancel because of me!"  
"And risk another witch attack? I don't think so. We won't go unless you're completely fine with it"

"A-Alright... I just need to... think about this for a while, I'm gonna take a walk around, if I'm late, tell Betty to call for me, I'll be back in a flash..."

"Right..."

Satella waved once before turning the other direction in a crossroad, Subaru looked once and turned away, "Should I be more concerned about her...?"

.

Subaru entered the room where Rem was in. Emilia and Beatrice were with her, trying to get her to remember things. "Rem, how are things going with your memories?"

"S-Subaru... sama... um, Rem still isn't able to recall anything, sorry..."

"Ugh, it's very uncomfortable when you call me Subaru-sama, I feel the distance between us grows bigger the more you call me that... all the love has been replaced with respect and gratitude... curse you Gluttony!"

"Subaru-sama, did Rem say something that offended you?!"

"Ah..." Subaru walked over and patted Rem on the head, "There's nothing Rem can do to make me hate you at all, you're just too... Rem I guess..."

"I-I see..."

Beatrice snuck a glance towards Subaru's crystal, it appeared dim, she gave him a skeptical look, "Where is 'she', I suppose?"

"She said she needs some alone time so she split off with me while we were walking here..."  
"Is that really a good idea, I suppose? She's still a witch..."  
"Even so, we could at least give her some space, she's got problems of her own too..."  
"Not like she gives _us_ any space, you know..."

"Huuh... okay then, Rem, Emilia, I'm gonna go check on Garfiel and Otto, see ya later," He said as he and Beatrice waved the two off and left.

* * *

Satella was atop the edge of one of the more sturdier buildings, sitting down, her cloak covering most of her face as it fluttered by the wind. She looks down and sees many guards patrolling the area, probably scanning the devastation for a report. She could hear their bickering and laughing, something she hasn't heard during her time in the seal. One of the guards spotted her and gave her a salute, she returned it with a wave and he went on.

She looked over to the morning sky, filled with moving clouds and chirping birds, these relaxing scenes won't last for long if she's going to return to that place. Her thoughts drifted towards Subaru, Beatrice, and the rest, and their current situation. Everyone's suffering from Gluttony and Lust's authority, and a way to stop it would be to conquer the watchtower. Even if it meant risking herself, her sanity, and her existence, as long as Subaru and everyone else she's fond of is happy, she'd do it in a heartbeat.

"Heh, Subaru doesn't even like me... wouldn't it be better if I was gone? I stand no chance against Rem or Emilia, just like Betty said... I'm like dead weight, I lied about him needing me to control the witch genes, he could do it fine on his own, I just wanted to escape that place and spend some time with them... such a selfish request..."

She huddled her legs up close and looked far in the distance, a sudden feeling hit her heart, a feeling she hasn't experienced since two months ago, a feeling she despised more than anything, a feeling she'll once again feel, Grief. She could feel a few tears drop from her eyes, she didn't even bother to wipe them.

"Even though they may not like me, I've come to really enjoy being with them... I can't just let them suffer like that... so I guess it's the only way..." And just like that, time passed by.

* * *

"Yo Garfiel, Otto! How's everything over here?" Subaru opened the door to the lounge of the Water Plumage Inn, Beatrice was wrapped around his neck, acting all tired out.

"Yo Boss!"  
"We're doing alright, Natsuki-san"

Otto and Garfiel were bandaged and sitting down on couches, playing chatarangi, this worlds equivalent to chess. Both Otto and Garfiel were extremely injured during their battles, Garfiel himself has a few fractured bones, Subaru could heal them up but he doesn't have an explanation ready yet.

"Heard about Rem, real sorry Boss, if my amazin self were quicker, maybe I coulda helped..."  
"No need for that Garf, we all had our own opponents, I'm just glad Gluttony took only Rem's memories, if they've taken her name as well, I'd go berserk"

"So what do we do about it, Natsuki-san? Julius-dono said something about asking the sage in the Pleiades watchtower if I recall..."  
"Yeah, near the Auriga Sand dunes, I'm planning on heading there as soon as possible, bring anyone who's willing to come, and conquer that tower, you two should just stay here and rest up, can't have you walking round like that..."

"Right Boss... also gotta apologize to the brat for running in too quick..."

"Okay you do that, I'm gonna go check on Wilhelm, Ricardo, and Anastasia, so ya!" Subaru said as he walked over to the door, but before he left Otto called out to him, "Natsuki-san, what about Wrath?"

"Huh, Sirius? What about her?"  
"You haven't heard? She's being held hostage in one of the clinics..."  
"I see... probably gonna make her spill some things..."

.

Subaru walked over to where they were holding Sirius, it was near the city hall, a little bit to the right. A tall building with an entrance to what could be a basement, that was most likely where they were keeping her.

Subaru opened up the hatch and went down, "Woah, this is really deep..."

Stairs that stretched down for who knows how long, there were dark patches where the light from the torch walls couldn't reach. This gives Subaru a dungeon feeling, one that's filled with monsters and the like. "Let's get going, I suppose, it's hot in here..."

They descended down the steps, it took a while, almost a few minutes. In the bottom, they were met with an iron door. Subaru tried to knock but the door just opened on its own, Wilhelm was on the other side, he gave the two a nod and he let them enter.

"You are here to see Sirius? Subaru-dono?"  
"Yeah, I want to get some answers out of her..."  
"Hm, she isn't willing to speak with anyone, and torture isn't an option..."  
"Right, her authority is a bad thing..."

Wilhelm led them to a chamber, inside he could see Crusch, Felix, a cloaked figure and Sirius, except, her bandages were removed. The moment Subaru saw her face, he knew who she was, "Y-You..." It wasn't Subaru, but Beatrice who said that, her face scrunched up, as if it hurt just looking at her. "Subaru... we musn't let her meet..."

"No way I'm letting Emilia see her..." Subaru said as he scanned her. Purple eyes, silver hair, and a face that is very similar to Emilia's, she even has pointy ears, the only difference is that there are withered patches of skin on her face, other than that, this is no doubt, "An Elf..." Having Emilia see her own kind like this, is just plain cruel.

Sirius heard Subaru say that but didn't react at all, not what Subaru was expecting. He could feel some sort of guilt creeping up to him, but it was mostly anger, rage, whoever was responsible for this, he was gonna beat the crap out of.

"Subaru? What are we to do with her?" Crusch asked, giving him a skeptical look, Subaru could only clench his fist and bring them out of the room to talk.

"The whole situation stinks of the witch cult..."

Subaru stepped back into the room and looked at Sirius, all she did was sneer at him and looked away. "Mind if I ask about the witch cult?" She didn't reply, she just stared at the wall, probably sulking or something. Subaru closed in and touched her, "Hey... let's not ge-"

Suddenly, she was set ablaze, Subaru reflexively jumped back, it turns out that they tied her up with metal chains, not the best idea to do. He gave her time to calm down, the flames started dissipating, but then he asks, "Tell me... do you know Emilia?"

"Why would I care about that Devil?"

She snapped at him, the chains relighted and burned hotter than before, but it didn't really do much, her chains were short and it doesn't seem like they would melt any time soon so she couldn't attack them.

"So you have no connection to Emilia? What about the Elior forest?"  
"I don't think she's mentally fit for questioning, Subaru..." Crusch said.

"Your a witch cultist however you look at it, I feel a little bad for doing this since your an Elf but... I'll be taking you away..."

No one rebuked what he said, seems they were all in agreement. Sirus on the other hand, blasted out in a rageful fit, throwing insults at Subaru and the rest, her fire burning hotter with each insult, the heat was getting near dangerous levels, so Subaru took a bucket of water that was conveniently placed beside him and threw it at her, the fire died out instantly, and she was coughing loudly.

"El-Shamak!"

Black clouds covered the whole room, blinding everyone. Subaru walked forward casually and grabbed Sirius, he was surprised there was not much resistance. He opened up a rift to a familiar place, it was where he committed his first suicide, the cliff on the loop he ran away from Ram with the help of Beatrice, the distance of the fall was much farther as the rift was in the air not on the ground.

Subaru threw her over, and she plummeted to the ground, he dismissed his spell and the room was back again, Subaru turned around, everyone looking a bit depressed at what just happened, "Man... Emilia has the right to know about this..."

"It's best we do not tell her... yet, I suppose, her mentality won't be able to handle it at the moment..."  
"It would hurt her beyond compare, Subaru-dono, it may act as a hindrance to her goals..."

"Yeah, guess we'll wait..."

Before they were about to leave, a little black orb came out of the rift that Subaru forgot to close, it rushed over to Subaru and started circling around him, startling everyone.

"S-Subaru-kyun! T-That thing..."

"Could this be..."  
"Wrath, I suppose..."

Everyone watched in awe as it floated around Subaru, it was a clear and shiny black orb, inside they could see smoke shaped like a small purple flame. Subaru touched it and it popped like a bubble, the smoke inside rushed over to Subaru, entering the crystal in his neck.

Crusch, Felix, Wilhelm, and the mercenary looked cautiously at Subaru, he tried moving his body, nothing seemed different. He summoned his Minya blade and tried to focus on it, and suddenly, it started to fire up, albeit only slightly. The flame was purple and it didn't seem to emit any heat at all.

"W-Woah..."  
"Hmm..."  
"Marvelous"  
"Nya~"

"I call it... Infernal touch!" He said while doing his classic victory pose, Wilhelm and Felix cringed at it while Beatrice just shook her head, "We should be going, I suppose..."

"Right... oh yeah, Wilhelm-san, we are planning on conquering the Pleiades Watchtower to get our names and memories back, since your one of the affected, would like to aid us?"

"Gladly, Subaru-dono..."  
"Great, looks like we're racking up a team, huh, Beako?"  
"I suppose..."

* * *

Subaru and Beatrice waited on the top of a building, in the distance they could see a shadow hopping from building to building, coming their way quick, it was Satella. "Took you quite a while, you sure you okay?"

Satella landed down and gave them a smile, "Yep I'm fine, we're still going right?"

"Yeah..."  
"Okay then, I think I'll be fine"  
"I'm doubtful, I suppose..."

"Oh, by the way, I felt something back there, did you get another witch gene?"  
"Yeah, we were able to safely take away Wrath..."  
"Wrath? Didn't we have her on lockdown, isn't that a bit cruel to just kill her off like that?"  
"That's my original thought... but..."  
"But what...?"  
"They removed her bandages, and I saw her face..."  
"..."

"It was an Elf..."

Satella felt something churning up in her chest, anger, and hatred. She felt it pumping through her veins, she was furious, "Show me..." She muttered "Show me how she looked like!. She grabbed Subaru by the shoulder and they heads touched lightly, Subaru audibly gasped.

"Hold it! Personal space please!" He pleaded, but she stayed like that for a few seconds. "No..." Her voice broke, her legs wobbled a little, "To think she'd go this far... Pandora..."

"What's wrong?" Subaru asks. She stayed silent, a despairing look on her face, "Hey, don't leave me like this! What happened? Who was she?" Subaru grabbed her shoulder, lightly shaking her, she muttered something but he couldn't hear, "Speak up!"

"Fortuna... that was... Fortuna..."

* * *

A/N

OOF, guys did you see? The trailer for the Re: zero English dub just came out! Man, I was hoping for a more cuter voice for Beako and Rem, but Emilia and Felt are spots on! Ram was great too, Elsa and Kadomon were above average and Subaru is not that bad, the "I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die" part sounded a bit off, maybe he should've added some shrieking instead of inner monologue...

Anyway, aside from that, Tappei's blasting us with new Arc 6 chapters back and forth, Subaru is dying a hell lot, but that's nothing new is it? I ain't waiting for him to finish Arc 6, I'm just gonna start Arc 6 right off the bat, I'm thinking of a name for the Arc... "The link of the Past to the Present?"

Also, everyone's suddenly busy with IRL! The plot of several fanfictions are not moving and that's like not letting me take my medicine after a year! Liquid, MNR, Come on guys, I'm dying here!

By the end of Warlock's Arc 4, I'm gonna make you all Satella X Subaru fans through the power of character development, flashbacks, and the Feels! I swear on it! So, yeah, see ya till then!


	20. Chapter 19: Feelings Deep Inside

**Warlock of Sin. Arc 3: Linking the Past and the Present**

 **Chapter 19: Feelings deep inside**

"So Fortuna was her foster mother... her mother... Oh god I screwed up big time..." Subaru whispered in a voice laced with guilt, was what he did the right thing or not? He wouldn't know.

Satella's weak figure mumbled, "Pandora..." she mumbled and mumbled under her breath, it was loud enough for Subaru to hear, "Just her name makes me want to puke... I hate her so much..." her cold stare slowly turned into a glare, "Playing all friendly with me, showering me with nice words, calling us friends... making me believe all those things... only to throw them down the dump, as if none of it ever happened... I really... really hate her..."

"Even after four hundred years... you still torment me..." Her words were menacing, yet saddening at the same time, Subaru couldn't help but feel like she might tear down any moment know, "She's the Witch of Vainglory, a despicable person that use people for her own benefit... if only I listened to Echidna... if only I listened, maybe none of this would've happened..."

From the mention of Echidna's name, Subaru perked up, "Hey, not the best time to ask... but, what's your relationship with Echidna? Last I heard, she didn't really like you... the both of you, to be exact..."

"Dona... well, you could say she was a 'best friend' of sorts, the kind that looks out for you, even though she doesn't really admit it openly... but, after what happened four hundred years ago, I can't blame her for hating me..."

"What exactly did you do to Mother,I suppose?"

"I didn't really _do_ anything to her... except for that time I killed her of course... but, I think she's hated me even before that... she told me that I was incompatible with the witch genes, she warned me over and over, I made a promise that I wouldn't touch them... but in the end, I did. The others may not hate me, but they don't know the full story of it all, they don't know what a monster I could be..."

Giving her a concerned look, Subaru said, "Seriously, is there anyone that doesn't hate you? You're describing yourself like your the embodiment of hatred or something..."

"Well, If I reveal my true identity, I'm sure everyone would despise me, Emilia-san is probably only kind to me because it's in her nature... or maybe she just feels sympathetic since we both are targeted to discrimination in the same way... there's no way someone would like someone like me..." she looked down with a depressed face.

"Hey, you shouldn't act all pessimistic, see, my parents seem to like you, Izumi too, how about that?"

"Their situation is like the other witches, they don't know what happened, if they got to know how I really am, what I did four centuries ago, I'm sure they'll never want to see my face ever again... no one would..."

"I understand where you're coming from... but my parents wouldn't care if you burned down the whole world for no reason, that's what he said to me at least, it's probably meant just for me as well... bad example, let me try again... you know, my mom would always get tricked, no matter how much my dad told her that it was a trick, she just wouldn't get it... and that was before they met each other. Can you believe someone telling someone else the simplest thing over and over again, for god knows how long? How frustrating it must have been?"

"..."

"I used to be a terrible child, one that causes trouble for everyone without any effort, literally, I just stay in my room doing nothing, I don't go to school, I don't talk to anyone, I'm a waste of money, waste of space, waste of energy, I'm just a waste... but they didn't give up on me, did they? That's just how my parents are, no, that's how my family is, I'm sure Izumi is the same way, so don't go saying things like 'They'll probably hate me' without knowing for sure"

"... I see... hah, I guess you're all just like that..." She lifted her head from Subaru's lap, and sipped the rest of her coff, before setting the mug down.

"And besides, we don't hate you, right Beako?" Hearing that nearly made her spit her coff out, but she held it in. She turned back slowly and looked at the two, with a brilliant fake smile, "Speak for yourself... I suppose..."

"Heh... of course, _you_ don't hate me... Subaru..." She said. It sounded so sarcastic that even a baby would know she wasn't serious when she said it. She disappeared into the crystal, but before that, "There's no way you couldn't hate me... Subaru... not after all I've you've been through..." She said under her breathe, barely audible to the other two.

"O-Oi..." Subaru tried to grab her before she disappeared but was too late, he looked over to Beatrice with a worried look, she just looked away, with a bit of guilt in her face, "I was serious you know..." he muttered, while looking at the crystal in his neck.

* * *

It's been a few days since that moment had happened, Satella hadn't come out of the crystal ever since, she wouldn't even reply to Subaru or Beatrice when they called her. "Ahh, what do I do? She's not replying…"

"Just forget it, I suppose, she'll come out when she feels like it, it'll only annoy her if you keep pestering…"  
"Isn't that how I got you out of the library though?"  
"Gah… n-nevermind that! Anyway, why are you putting so much thought into this I suppose!?"  
"Uh? Oh, well… actually, I'm not sure…"

It is true that Satella has been on his mind lately, he's probably just overthinking it, though he couldn't shake away this weird feeling about leaving things this way, it's as if he cares for her, 'Keh, as if. I only said I didn't hate her, doesn't mean I like her or anything' he thought to himself. Brushing the thought off for later, he grabs Beatrice's hand and walks to where everyone else was gathered around.

"Ah, Subaru, that was a rather long bathroom break wasn't it?" Julius asked. "Yeah, must have been something I ate, my stomach's not really feeling too well… it's like I'm missing something, I suppose…" As he said that, Beatrice kicked him a bit, possibly because she thought he was mocking her.

"What was that for Beako! Not that it hurt or anything…"  
"Hmph, I suppose"

"Now that Natsuki-kun is here, we can finally start the preparations for our trip to the Pleiades Watchtower…" She said while putting her hands together, "Um, I hope you don't mind me asking, Anastasia-san, but may I ask why you're coming? I mean, it's gonna be a pretty harsh trip, you sure your not gonna bring anyone from your Mercenary group along with you?"

"Well, Natsuki-kun, They're all in pretty bad shape, I would be a terrible person to ask em to accompany me like that. Besides, you said Julius-kun was my knight right? He'll make sure nothing harms me, right Julius-kun?" she said while giving Julius a pat in the back, "Hah, even though you may have forgotten me completely Anastasia-sama, I am relieved that you still treat me the same way… I have already sworn my sword to you and only you, my lady…"

"Well, that's all settled then, who else is comin?"

"Well, it's me Beako, Emilia, you, Julius, and there's one more person I plan on bringing, she may be of great use to us during our trip in the Auriga sand dunes…" the latter part intrigued the other three that aren't part of the Emilia camp, "Oh, does the Emilia camp have a secret member that the public isn't aware off?" Anastasia playfully poked.

"Secret member… no, she's more like a hostage in the Roswaal mansion, she's an assassin that tried to hunt us down alongside Elsa, she was a little girl so we decided to spare her and so we've imprisoned her…" Hearing that was quite a shock for the three, but they thought nothing of it.

"Subaru-dono, isn't Rem-dono going to be coming with us seeing that she lost her memories?" They all gave a look towards Rem, who could do nothing but scoot a little closer to Emilia to avoid all the eye contact, "No, her nose is too sensitive to Witch miasma, being near me is one thing but being in a whole desert that reeks of the witch is going to be problematic, so we'll have her stay in the Roswaal, besides, her sister wouldn't want her going off like that…"

"Then, Natsuki-san, have you sent Roswaal a letter notifying us of our current situation?"  
"One step ahead of you Otto, I sent one right after we knew everything was safe, told them to prepare for our departure as well"  
"That's the boss! Always ready for anythin!"

"Oh please Garf, that's too much" Subaru snickered, he then stood up with a determined face, "I'm not waiting another second, we set off right now… if that's not a problem with all of you?" They all nodded in unison, "I've already had our carriages prepared in advance so just make sure you check if you've brought everything you need!"

"Hmm, Subaru's pretty reliable when you need him the most isn't he?" Emilia chimed.

.

After a few hours of repeated checking and confirmation, they were finally off. Garfiel, Otto, Crusch, Felix, and Ricardo, waved them off as they left Preistella. Subaru and Julius were currently driving the carriage with Emilia, Beatrice, Rem, and Anastasia in the back. Emilia peeked from the curtains and tapped Subaru in the shoulder, wanting to talk to him for a while, he handed the reins to Julius for a while and hopped back, "Beatrice told me about it, but I just wanted to make sure, Ella-chan is fine, right?" she made sure to keep her voice low.

Subaru replied, with an equally low whisper, "Hard to tell, ever since she found out that Sirius was F-"

"Ever since she found out that what, Subaru?"

'Shit! Shouldn't let my tongue slip like that! Screw me!' "I-I mean... ever since we talked about… going to the watchtower to free everyone's memories, she's been acting kinda down…" It wasn't a complete lie, but it was a lie nonetheless, he was just grateful that Emilia was gullible enough to fall for it.

"I understand… maybe it reminded her of the Witch of Envy, she probably felt bad about what happened four hundred years ago, and that she thinks everyone must hate her for what she did… well, that's what I'd feel" 'Emilia-tan! How did you hit a bullseye so perfectly! Man, you two don't just look alike, you think alike as well!'

"At times like that, I'd want Puck or Subaru comforting me… hehe" That simple statement made Subaru's heart skip a beat, but it made him feel something else, he wasn't sure what it was, "Well, she's not gonna get any comfort soon… she won't answer me or Beako, and she isn't coming out of her crystal, I don't know what to do at this point?"

"Subaru is the kind to care a lot about people isn't he?" Emilia said with a sweet smile, "C-care? Emilia-tan, I'm simply worried she might be planning something… no scratch that, I guess I can trust her, I'm worried something may happen and it would make us look suspicious…"

"Tsk, Tsk, Subaru," she said while waving a finger, " I've learned to see through your lies, you can't fool me, huhu!" Seeing that she was a little bit loud, she covered her mouth, 'You totally didn't detect the lie I said earlier… Emilia-tan, even though, the way you started your sentence was really cute!'.

"Well, anyway… I'll do what I can to make sure she's alright, the next stop is still a long way, so you better rest up…" He went back up but before going back out, he looked back to Rem, it made her shiver "You okay Rem? Anything wrong, just tell me, okay?"

"N-nothing's wrong… S-Subaru-sama…"

"Really? Your shaking, are you cold or something? Here you can have my jacket…"  
"Rem lost her memories, and she saw someone with eyes like yours, I suppose, wouldn't that b-"

"Holy shit! How could I forget!" He rushed over to Rem's side and got to the ground, it made her face turn white, "Rem, please forgive me if you thought that I was glaring at you for no reason, it's just that I can't help it with my eyes like this! I'm really sorry for scaring you like that!" 'Curse you gluttony, once I find you, I'll slice you one millimeter at a time!'

"N-no… it's okay… I understand… n-nothing can be done about it…" she said while sweating profusely, "R-really, you don't really look kinda well…" Subaru said while backing away. Seeing the worried look on Subaru's face Rem realized she may have overreacted, "Really, Subaru-sama, I know that you mean well… it's just that, those eyes are unsettling, I didn't think bad about you one bit, honest!"

"Ah, that's a relief, even though you've lost your memories, your still the sweet and loveable Rem, heh" he said with a wide grin, which took Rem by surprised, she didn't think he was capable of making such a face, especially with his eyes like that, "Hm" she nods, he then opens his eyes, which tensed her again. "Well, I better get back, Mr. Greatest Knight would die of boredom out there, heh…"

He got back out and sat beside Julius again, he handed him back the reins and he gladly accepted it.

This is just another beginning to a new tragedy that befalls our beloved Warlock and his friends, only this time, something big is going to sprout out, something that will change his life for better or for worse, only time will tell what happens…

* * *

Back in the Roswaal mansion, "Hmm~ So our Subaru-kun has already beaten another~ Sin Archbishop… he's gotten quite serious lately, back to back, he's was serious when he said he was making Emilia-sama king… but…" Roswaal looked down lower to the paper where the rest of the text was. It was boxed around by pencil and has the message, 'Tell Ram I'm sorry', he read it and his eyes widened a bit, "My~ this is going to be quite… problematic…"

"Roswaal-sama, is something the matter?"

"Well, my dear Ram, something is most definitely wrong… and it concerns you a little" She narrowed her eyes as he said this, "You see… Subaru-kun had just said that the whole of Pristella was attacked by the Witch-cult with full force… there were no deaths to our camp members… but…"

"R-Rem…" she muttered, the strength in her legs had faded and she fell to the ground, tears streaming to the floor, "My little sister…"

"My… to use your clairvoyance to see what was in the letter, you were really desperate to see what's wrong… but now that you know, you might regret it a bit… Ram dear…"

"No… Rem… Rem! REM!"

* * *

 **A/N**

Yoho guys! ReveiwR524 here and we've started another arc of Warlock, arc 3, which corresponds to Re zero's arc 6, where Subaru and co. travel to the Pleiades watchtowers to get their ass handed to them! Since there is little to go with, seeing that Tappei-sensei is still in the middle of writing arc 6, I'll have to make up a lot of stuff so please don't be mad if the story doesn't go with the canon, it is a fanfiction by the way…

Anyway, I have my IG's coming up in May and I am 100% not ready, I say that but I could probably score a B without studying, though that's not good enough. So yeah, I'll try studying harder, not that it'll affect my upload speeds or anything…

Oh, speaking of which, updates have been slightly slower, this and the last chapter was meant to come up a lot sooner and in closer proximity, you know, the usual 5 days to 2 weeks kinda thing, the only problem is, I've been demotivated and kinda depressed, mostly because everyone else is kinda stationary with their fanfics, but thankfully MNR uploaded 2 chapters and that was enough to refill my determination bar to max!

Anyway, see ya next chapter i guess!


	21. Interlude 1: A Postponed Reunion

**Warlock of Sin. Arc 3: Linking the Past and the Present**

 **Interlude 1: A Postponed Reunion**

The woman ran through the now bustling street. A day after the events of the Witch-cult assault, the people wasted no time, they immediately started rebuilding their city, restoring the buildings and the waterways back to their former glory, this was just a few hours after Subaru's group had left Pristella. As the people were busy with the repairs, she ran, and ran, and ran, not stopping, not even for a split second.

She was almost out of breath, but she didn't bother to stop, she couldn't bear to stop, she wouldn't stop. "Hah… hah… ha…" Moving past the crowd, she made it the housing district, 'He should be here, they were headed this way', the woman with orange hair thought to herself.

She turned a corner, and there it was, there was a group of people leaving one of the shelters , and one of them was "Garek!" she screamed out as she rushed over to hug him tightly, the others moved out of her way, but didn't pay much attention to the two, as they all rushed to their own places.

"Reala!" Their tight embrace didn't last too long as pulled out and looked at him, "Are you okay? Not hurt anywhere?" "I-I'm fine, don't worry, I was at the city hall when they attacked, but fortunately, a knight came in with a woman and managed to save me, he was a friend of the Gorgeous Tiger, and they were able to tend to my wounds, hehe…"

"Gorgeous... Tiger...?" Hearing the name caused her heart to ache, she remembered the boys face, she remembered now, she didn't remember back then, but she remembers now, she grabs her husband by the collar and pleads, "Garek! Gorgeous Tiger, where is he! I need to see him!" she kinda spat that at his face, but after seeing the desperation in her eyes, he knows she isn't joking around.

"Y-yes, he should still be inside…" he said while she rushed inside the shelter. Garek followed her behind closely, she frantically looked around, the golden-haired youth was nowhere to be seen, "Hmm… uhm, Otto-sama…" Garek called the man in green sitting on the couch with a bandaged arm, "Ah, Garek-san? Your back so quickly?"

"A-apologies for that… but…"  
"Excuse me sir bu… do you know where 'Gorgeous Tiger' is by chance?"

"Gorgeous Tiger… Gorgeous Tiger… Gor- Oh… haha!" Otto burst out chuckling, the two were a bit shocked by his reaction but he calmed down quickly, "Did he really say his name was that? Haah, I didn't think Garfiel was serious when he said he'd be the 'Gorgeous Tiger'..." The moment she heard 'Garfiel' she knew she wasn't wrong, "Hah, yeah I know where he is, he's currently resting in one of the rooms, you see, he was heavily injured while fighting an enemy…"

"C-Can I please see him!"  
"H-Huh? Of course, here follow me…"

Otto got off the couch and brushed himself, he leads the two down the hallway where several doors were lined up, he went to the one nearest to them and opened the door, "Hey- it's empty? Oh right, he wanted to see me Mimi, sorry, my bad, this way…" Otto brought down the end of the hallway, where a single door stood, Otto knocked and said, "Hey, 'Gorgeous Tiger' hehe… are you there?"

"Otto-Nii? Yeah, I'm here, need anythin?"  
"Uhm, well, you've got visitors…"  
"Visitors? Don tell me it's the other two…"  
"No, no, it's Garek-san and… uh, his wife… I think…"

She just nodded at Otto and they waited for a response, it was suddenly silent for a while, they could hear something moving, probably a chair or something, and then they heard Garfiel, "Y-Yeah… come in then…" hearing the slight bit of hesitance in his voice, he opened the door slowly. Otto entered the room, with Garek and Reala coming in after. Garfiel had his back faced to them, it being covered with bloody bandages, it made Reala gasp and Garek couldn't help but look away slightly, "Y-Yo, Reala-san… how's everythin goin?" He said, weakly, his back still faced the three.

On the bed beside him, was a sleeping Mimi, she herself was covered in bandages, but they weren't blood covered like Garfiel's, nonetheless, it looked like it must have hurt. "Gorgeous Tiger…" she called to him. Just hearing her voice made her flinch. Otto walked up to Garfiel and gave him a pat on the back, "Hey, Garfiel, didn't Lewes-san teach you manners? You have to look at someone when they're speaking, it's rude if you don't…"

"Ah, of cour-"  
"Your… Garfiel… T-Tinsel…?"

Nervously gulping and turning his head around, Garfiel nodded slowly with a small makeshift grin on his face. "Y-Yeah… tha's me…" "Your sister… her name is… Fredrica, yes…?" as she said that, both Garfiel and Otto both had their eyes wide open, "Woah, wait? Otto-Nii, ya can't just go yapping yer mouth about us ya know? The boss did say yer like a walking omen, but my amazin self didn' think it was this bad!"

"M-Me? This must be a misunderstanding, I didn't say anything about Fredrica-san, honest Garfiel. And don't listen to everything Natsuki-san says, would you!"

Reala had fallen to her knees after confirming that, "R-Reisha! 'S something wrong?" Garfiel asked in worry. He got up from his chair and went to help her up, so did the other two. "R-Reisha!? Did you call me Reisha?" she got up and stuttered.

"Ah- ahaa, s-sorry, uhm, you just looked like someone I knew is all… think nothing of it…" He replied quickly. The room fell silent for a minute, until it was by broken another question, "Garfiel… do you… remember me?" Reala said while looking deep into his eyes.

"R-Remember?! We jus met the other day, right?"  
"Do you remember me before that… as Reisha…"

Suddenly, Garfiel's face drooped down, both Otto and Garek were shocked. How did she know? Why did she know? Those were the thoughts that immediately flew through Garfiel's mind. He turned his head slowly over to Garek, without facing away from the ground. "Garek… didn' I…".

"Sorry Garfiel… but, this is new to me as well… I don't know how she found out…"  
"Then-"

"Garfiel…" He heard her say with a weak voice, "I'm sorry I forgot… really… what a horrible person I am to forget... when I remembered the face you made that morning, I didn't understand, but I do now…" Garfiel slowly turned to her again, shivering as he did, she lifted her face to meet his, her eyes starting to tear up, "Garf…" Once he heard that nostalgic voice he couldn't take it, he knew where this was going, "M… Mama-" without a second to waste, she rushed her hugged Garfiel tightly, the other two could only look, dumbstruck.

"G-Garek… san…"  
"So that's what it is…"  
"You knew?"  
"I didn't know the whole story, but I guessed something like this…"

The two looked back at what they suspected to be a child and his mother, embracing each other after a whole decade of being apart. The Gorgeous Tiger? He was nowhere to be seen, all that's left is a kitten being tended to by its long-lost mother. A reunion that was ten years late...

.

After everything had finally calmed down, the four sat on the floor and had some discussions, "Big sis is fine, she's back at Roswaal's mansion with granny, we're all doing fine"

"Ah, thank goodness…"

"Heh, but to think that Garfiel's mother was here all along, it gave me a really big shock," Otto said, "To think that I have a stepson and a stepdaughter which I was completely unaware of, is a shock to me…" Garek replied. "Then Garfiel, Fred and Rafiel are your half siblings"

"Oh, the little ones… yeah, guess thas' right, heh, they were just like me and sis when we were small…"

The four of them laughed out, but a sudden voice made them stop, "Ughwa… too noisy…" A new voice entered the room, no, rather, it was already in the room, just that it finally revealed it's presence. They all looked behind them and saw Mimi, waking up from her sleep, seeming well. "Oh? Hey, there's Garf, that man, Garek-san… ah, and Garf's mom!"

Otto, Garek, and Reisha were astonished by Mimi knowing about Reisha being Garfiel's mom, "Mim-chan? How did you know Reisha-san was Garfiel's mom?!"

"You didn't know? They both smelled alike, so they must be related right?"  
"Wait! Don't you say-"  
"And before everything went bad, Garfiel was crying about how his mama did-"  
"I said don't say it! Ya brat!"

The rest let out huge chuckles, Mimi and Garfiel then joining in on it. "So… Mimi-chan, I heard from Otto-san and Garfiel-san that you were really injured during the whole ruckus, are you fine now?" Garek asked, worriedly "Of course I'm fine! It's going to take much more than that to finish Gorgeous Mimi!"

"Hey! Ya coulda died back there ya know?!"  
"But that's because Garf rushed in when Mimi said to retreat, ya?"  
"Kh… yeah, sorry about that…"  
"Like lady says, the past is the past, speaking of which… where is lady?"

"Anastasia-san? Oh, she left a few hours ago with Natsuki-san and Emilia-sama to head to the Pleiades Watchtower, many people lost their memories and names during the assault, and many have been affected by Lust's authority and have been turned into flies, their trying to find a way to revert everything back to normal…"

"What?! Lady left me! Noo, Mimi wants to go, Mimi wants to go!"  
"Mimi-chan, you can't, you still haven't healed enough to go"  
"Then Garf, heal me more!"

"Eh? But I've wasted all my mana trying to heal ya up already… wait, since your up, then those two…"

Suddenly, the door slammed open, and in came Tivey and Hetaro, once they spotted Garfiel, they rushed forward, only to be grabbed by the head by Ricardo, "Yo, Mimi, yo fine and all?"

"Captain! Yeah, Mimi's feeling great!"  
"Alright, that's good, that's good… oh, seeing some new faces here…"

He said as he looked over to Garek and Reisha. They stood up and bowed to him, all the while introducing yourself, "I'm Reisha, Garf's mother, pleased to meet you…" "I'm Garek, and I guess I'm Garfiel's… step-father…"

"Oho! Ya didn't tell me your parents were here boy! Hah!"  
"My amazin self jus found out today, after all…"

"Well then, I gotta thank your son, if it weren't for him, our precious Mimi would've been done for!" He went over and patted Garfiel by the shoulder, "Ehe, was nothin really…"

"Nee-chan, he didn't do anything to you did he!"  
"You were asleep, he could have done something you know!"

The three siblings started bickering then, leaving the five to themselves, "So Garfiel, wanna come over to our house for a bit when your all patched up?"

"Uh? Oh, sorry Garek, as much as my amazin self would love to do that… I've devoted my loyalty to the Boss, right now, he's going to some dangerous place with Emilia-sama, and my amazin self's gotta be ready to help out when they're in a pinch! So we're gonna have to leave soon 'S Otto-Nii and my amazin self's better… thank you for the offer… but..."

"Hmm, Lewes-sama has raised you well… to think that the last time I saw you, you could barely walk without help..."

"Well, Reisha-san, Garek-san, you could always come with us" Otto proposed, "Fredrica-san and Lewes-san would love to see you, I'm sure of it" "Ehe?! But, aren't you two with… the Margrave? Roswaal Mathers! I-is it really okay for us to come unannounced!" Garek stuttered.

"Of course, I'm sure Roswaal would accept guests very well, besides, you know him personally don't you, Resiha-san?"  
"Ah, yes, though it was a long time ago, I do remember… when he took us in and brought us to Sanctuary, tended for our needs, even though it was a whole ten years since we last met, I do remember him, he was my benefactor, and friend after all…"

"Then it's decided, we're going back together," Otto said, "Count my mercenary group in. My lady told us to head over there once everyone's all ready, so that makes all of us!"

More bickering and more chattering, the room was filled with joy and laughter, but let's move elsewhere, somewhere outside. In the streets, two people walked, side by side, both of them wearing cloaks, one was most definitley a woman, she wore a gray cloak, and her hair, which was of the same color lingerd out of it. The other was a man, it was hard to tell from his body alone, but his head was only half covered by the black cloak, his hair was a dark purple, his skin was pale, his face, rather handsome. These two walked side by side.

"The operation was a fail, what to next… dear…"  
"We'll just have to wait for the next set… when do you think that'll happen?"  
"I assume… about a year from now…"

"A year, heh, that's a while… I really did want to meet that man… he called himself a Warlock, interesting… on that day, we shall finally meet…" The man said with a grimacing smile on his face, "Ohno! Look out!" Called a voice from above them, a wooden beam fell from a roof some builders where repairing and it was falling straight for the two. The woman just closed in on the man and he held out one of his arms and just grabbed the whole thing. He then threw it back up, where it landed safely beside the workers, "Ah… h-he's strong… Um, Thanks and sorry about that!"

"It's okay… just make sure it doesn't happen to often…" He said while waving off, "Weird, that wasn't your normal reaction… dear…" "As much as I want to, I'll have to keep it under control for now, I can't risk to blow my cover right now, it'd only ruin my chances later…"

"Ah, of course, dear…"

* * *

 **A/N**

Yo guys! We're back with the fast chapters update, I hope…not 3k words but it's an Interlude/half chapter so there's the reason...

Anyway, just a short episode from Pristella before we continue onto Arc 6. For Arc 6, I'm thinking to stray from the part where Subaru loses his memories, and where the whole tower gets engulfed in shadows thing, not really sure where to go if I take that route…

Anyway, I'm gonna pause my other fics for a while, so I can focus on other things, so yeah, that's about it for now… Do you guys happen to know who the purple haired man is?

Update speeds vary, three days to two weeks (Let's hope it's the former), see ya!


	22. Chapter 20: The Ride by the Carriage

**Warlock of Sin. Arc 3: Linking the Past and the Present**

 **Chapter 20: The Ride by the Dragon Carriage**

After another five days on the road, the distance shortened by Subaru's rifting. They have reached the Roswaal mansion. They made a stop at an iron gate where a dog-faced demihuman came to inspect them. He walked with a bored expression on his face and looked at the drivers "Do you have an appointment, Sir"

"Yo, Porter-san! It's us!"

Subaru lifted off his hood and shot him a thumbs up, "S-Subaru-sama! Ah, you've retu- Kh, y-your face…" the gatekeeper stuttered while fearfully pointing at Subaru's face. The black 'scar' on Subaru's face had faded enough that it didn't look like a serious threat, but it still looked unsightly, to some anyway "Oh, yeah, some things happened in Pristella, but it's nothing, just a mark left behind, it'll fade off… hopefully… Anyway, we've got visitors from the Anastasia-camp so"

"O-Of Course, please come right in…" Porter was the gatekeeper's name, he opened the gates and let the group pass, then he closed it again, going back to his post.

From the five days they spent traveling on the road, Subaru's 'scar' caused by absorbing the 'Dragon Veins' from Crush's hand had only diminished slightly. The blood still covered the edges of his face, his neck was also still covered, the intensity on his arm has lessened but his arm is still has a strong shade on it. "At this rate, it'll be months before it's completely gone, and I don't feel like ripping my whole arm off…"

They passed through the garden where they saw Fredrica watering the plants, Subaru waved to her, and she waved back but was petrified when she saw her face, Subaru lowered his hands down depressingly and went on to the entrance of the mansion. They were greeted by Clind and Petra who were standing by the steps, "Hey guys, we're back!"

"Subaru-sa…"  
"Hah, I know, the face, it's mark left by some guy, or girl actually, please don't talk about it…"

The two could only nod and watched as the others left the carriage one by one, "We've already prepared what you need for your next departure, Timing" Clind said as he took the two ground dragon's reins, "Well, now I've got to deal with-"

"Barusu!"

The mansion doors slammed opened and a pink-haired maid glared from inside, Ram. "Get ready hell!" Subaru just sighed and opened up his arms "Alright, do it!" waiting for a hit straight in his face, he squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his teeth… but nothing hit him. He opened his eyes and saw Ram trembling, putting up disgusted face "I don't know what's worse... your face, or the fact that I tried to touch it…"

"Enough with the face already! I know I look like a creep alright, don't rub it in!"

She walked away from the mortified Subaru, and headed towards Rem, giving her a strong hug, making her suddenly squeal. "Rem! Are you alright, your not hurt" Rem took a look at the near-identical girl in front of her, no doubt this was her sister that everyone was telling her about, "Nee-chan… n-no, I'm fine…"

"Nee-chan? Guh, so you did forget me… I'll mess up your face real good Barusu!"  
"Hey, everyone was in trouble so-"  
"No excuses!"  
"Y-Yes, Ma'am!"

"Am I not supposed allowed to call you N-Nee-chan?" Rem asked shyly, "What? No, it's just that you usually call me Nee-sama…"

"O-Okay then… Nee-sama…"  
"Huh?! No, please call me Nee-chan, you'd never call me that before…"  
"H-Hai, Nee-chan!"

Subaru went up the steps with Emilia and Beatrice, Julius, Anastasia, gollowing behind, "Hey Ram, where's Roswaal?" "Roswaal-sama is waiting for you in the lounge, Barusu. Petra, please show them to Roswaal-sama and prepare tea for everyone..."

"Yes, Ram Nee-sama!"

The six followed Petra inside, she led them through the mansion and into a large room which contained many couches, tables, and a large fireplace, Roswaal was there waiting with his usual Jester outfit and clown makeup. "Ah~, Subaru-kun and Emilia-sama, you~ have returned, you had us all worried there…" he said while motioning them to sit.

"Yo, Ros-chi, no one died so it's okay, anyway, guess we're going to the introductions, we've brought up Anastasia-san over with us, that's Julius, Anastasia-san's knight, he lost his name so you probably won't remember him…"

"Really now? Then it'd be weird why you~ remember them, Subaru-kun…"  
"Yeah, I'm not sure why I remember them too… and I was also kinda hit by Gluttony's authority but nothing seems to be wrong…"  
"That might~ be because of your strange scent, or maybe your just special… are you sure~ you haven't forgotten anything?"

"Nope, I remembered pretty much everything that has happened until now, the Mabeast incident, Elsa, Sanctuary, The white whale, the witch cult, um… other things… so, my memories are pretty solid, and everyone else seems to remember me so we're good on that…"

"Well then, I welcome you Julius-kun, to my household, and you as well, Anastasia-sama…"

"Have you forgotten me then?" Said a voice that suddenly appeared from behind them, Subaru didn't even have to turn around to reply to it, "Haah… no, but maybe it'd do me good if I had forgotten you… Annerose…" A little girl, around the age of nine, wearing an elegant dress came into the room and walked over to Emilia, "Emily! Your back!" she clung to her arm, nuzzling onto it, with a smile.

"Annerose-chan, yes we're back, but not for long, we have to go again to fix some things…"  
"Eh? Can't you just let your knight do it? That's his job right?"  
"But I'd feel bad if Subaru does it alone… and it was partly my fault, if I didn't get caught so easily, Subaru could have focused on protecting Rem…"

"Emilia-tan, please don't try to shift the blame, I've taken full responsibility for everything that's happened, Ram's gonna punish me, not you!"  
"Saying things like that, I didn't know you were also a masochist, Barusu…"  
"R-Ram!?"

Ram came into the room with Petra, holding a tray with several cups, a big mug, and many sweets on it. "Rem is in my room, I've given her multiple clothes that she could change into, I shall go back to check on her later…"

Everyone sat down, "So you guys can stay here for the time being while we make the final preparations for our little excursion. The Pleiades tower is about twenty days from here and we just got back from Pristella, so we're all pretty tired… anything wrong with that Ros-chi?"

"Not~ at all Subaru-kun… though I'd like to accompany you~, there are still a few~ Sanctuary evacuees that still haven't found a place to settle yet, and I~ need to check on the residents that decided to stay in Sanctuary as well..."

"So of course you're busy… eh, we'll be fine on our own, we've got the all mighty Beako on our side!"  
"Of course, but Flattery won't get you anywhere, I suppose…"  
"Well I'll just have to keep on praising you until I do get somewhere with it"  
"Hmph, Betty doesn't mind being praised, I suppose…"

Subaru gave Beatrice a pat on the head before getting up, "Alright, I'm gonna go check on her so you guys can get comfortable…" "Mind if I tag along? I'm curious about this 'other person' we're bringing along…" Julius asked, him getting up as well.

"Just don't try anything funny you hear…"  
"Of course…"

The others chuckled lightly as the two, with Beatrice, left the room. Emilia was dragged away by Annerose, Anastasia was shown to a room by Petra, and Roswaal was left alone in the lounge, seeping his unfinished tea. "Hm~, so he has acquired two~ more… that~ makes it a total of... eleven now… I wonder how long~ he can keep it up…" he kept it to himself as he pondered on the thought.

* * *

Subaru opened a door, there was a spiraling staircase downwards, the three of them went down, and in the bottom was a door, an iron door. Julius could feel some kind of aura coming from the door, and it wasn't pleasant, "What your gonna see is gonna be surprising, I'd buckle up if I were you…"

Hearing Subaru's warning, Julius latched his hand onto his scabbard, making Subaru sigh loudly, "That's not what I meant but okay…" He slowly opened the door and entered the room, "Excuse me for intruding…" As Julius entered the room he was dumbfounded, a carpet, painted walls, a large bed, stuffed animals, another door to what could be a bathroom, drawers, cupboards, heating stones, cooling stones, a ventilation system, this doesn't seem to be a place where one holds an assassin.

"So, Bear-san, would you kindly pass the jug over there please"

He stared at the girl in front of him, cyan hair, green eyes, seems to be having a tea party with several stuffed animals, an assassin? More like an innocent village girl, he thought. "Hello~, you've got visitors here…" "Hya! Onii-san?! Don't sneak up on me like that, I'm in the middle of serving tea right now!"

"Sorry, but we've got some business to settle, so if you don't mind, we'll be staying here for a while…"  
"And why should I listen to Onii-san?"  
"I knew you'd ask that so… you can have this new doll I made, from where I come from, it's called a panda…"

He opened a rift to his room and grabbed a stuffed panda plush, one he made just before they left to Pristella, "If you hear me out, you can have this…" "Okay, gimme gimme!" 'She's too excited… it's just a stuffed animal, geez…'

"Oh, by the way, Onii-san, who's the purple haired man?"  
"Huh? The purple haired knight guy? His name's Julius, he'll be coming with us as well so get along…"  
"Okay…"

"Anyway, we're heading to the Auriga sand dunes in a few days, I heard there's gonna be a lot of Mabeast there, so we're gonna need you to help us out and tell them to go away, Garf's not here so we can't just take anything on and run off like anything's happened, you in?"

"Well… I do want to go outside for a while…"  
"I'll make you another stuffed plush?"  
"Deal!"

'Seriously, this girl has a complete sell-out personality, no wonder she's an assassin…'

* * *

Back in her room, Ram was with Rem, finding clothes to replace her worn out maid's outfit, Rem was sitting on her bed pondering on some things, "Rem, something the matter? You've been silent all this time…"

"Oh, Nee-chan… I was just wondering, how was I like when I still had my memories?"  
"How you were like, huh… well, that's easy"

She put the clothes she had on her hands on the bedside and sat beside Rem, "Rem was a hard worker, always doing her best in everything, whether it's cooking, cleaning, washing, drying, you were great in everything, the only problem is, you worked too hard, you'd worry everyone by overdoing it, working all day, barely getting any sleep at night, seriously, you were a big hand full, I just couldn't find a way to make you stop…" After hearing that, Rem's head dropped down, "But that changed when Barusu came, at first you didn't think much about it, but after **that** day, everything changed, you stopped overworking, started appreciating yourself, I was honestly the happiest I could have been, only…"

"O-Only…?"  
" **That** day… it was the day you fell in love with that damn Barsusu…"  
"E-EH!"

Rem nearly screeched out, red-faced, "S-Subaru-sama!?" Suddenly, a rift opened in front of them, and Subaru peeked in, "Rem? You called, something wrong?" Ram scoffed at him, "Nothing at all Barsusu, and knock when you enter a room! How rude can you get!"

"O-Oh, sorry about that, just that it sounded like something happened, oh well, I'll be going then…" he then disappeared along with the rift, "I… I was in love with S-Subaru-sama… b-but…"

"Kuh, I don't know what you see in that useless boy… he's terrible at almost everything besides sewing, his hair is a mess, his eyes scare the daylights out of you, it just didn't make sense to me, it felt like my sister was being taken away by some street punk, it makes me wanna punch him in the face!"

"D-Does… does Nee-chan hate, Subaru-sama…?"  
"Hate? Haah, even though he's like that, I don't hate, it's just that I feel very conflicted with giving my sister away…"

"Hm… I… I think I understand… why I would fall in love with him… maybe just a bit…" Ram perked up the moment she said that "Really? Care to tell me about it then?" "Subaru-sama… is a kind person… he cares about people around him, he puts the blame for everything on himself… and he puts people at ease when he talks… e-except for his eyes… they're scary…"

Ram looked at her dumbfounded, "Even though you lost your memories, you can still list all of Barusu's good traits… tch, I'm feel betrayed as a sister…" "I-I'm sorry, it's just, I just met with Nee-chan, s-so, it will take time for… and…"

"Heh, Well, back to the topic of Barsusu, he is reliable at times, and he seems to be prepared for everything, especially when something big happens, I don't know how, I don't know why, but I'm thankful for it… if it weren't for him, Emilia-sama would have most likely been murdered, village children would have fallen ill to a curse, Emilia-sama and myself would have been beheaded by the cult, and you could have ended up worse if Barusu wasn't there… he is a really dependable friend, and even if he's still mostly useless, I don't think I have a reason to not be happy with you two being together… it's just… you're the last family I have so I'm afraid you'll forget about me…"

"Nee-chan…" seeing her sister droop down in a depressed state, she quickly gave her a hug, "I'm sure, even if I were to marry someone, I would never forget about Nee-chan, never… I'm sure the old Rem would say the same… so don't worry Nee-chan…"

"Rem…"

* * *

While the two were doing some bonding time, the others were up and at it with their planning. They were in the living room, a map folded out onto the table, "So it takes twenty days from here to Mirula, there are several towns we can stop in before we reach there. The Auriga sand dunes are known for its 'Sand Time' so we're going to need to grab a few safety clothes before we head over there, and a good supply of food and water in case we get lost and my rifting doesn't work… finally, there's the problem of witch miasma, we can't stay too long there or else it'll contaminate us… that seems to be all the problems at hand…"

"Masks should reduce the contamination rate, but I think we'd only last about two weeks before the Miasma would start affecting us…"  
"And that's bad… if we don't get anywhere within a week, I say we return, if it takes a week to search, it'll take a week to get back…"  
"Not a bad Idea, Subaru…"

"So, I'll head over to the Capital tomorrow and I'll buy everyone a set… just in case, let's run through our group again…"

...  
Natsuki Subaru, Lolimancer

Beatrice, Great Spirit of Cuteness

Julius Jukulius, Greatest Knight

Emilia, E-M-T

Anastasia, Greedy Princess

Shaknar, Julius's Ocean-blue Mount

Patrasche, Subaru's Jet-Black Compadre

Meili Portroute, Ex. Loli-Assassin  
...

"Ah… even in the role call, I'm still the lolimancer… Gha! I'm gonna mess up whoever started calling me that name!"

And then, a whole two days have passed, two days of continuous preparations. Subaru went with Anastasia and Julius to buy everyone new cloaks, masks, and other things like on the first day. Anastasia insisting on paying it all herself, turns out she was the kind of greedy that like to spend money, even if it's not for herself.

The next day was set on marking the areas of the map, educating people on emergency procedures in case one were to happen, like getting trapped in quicksand and all. The day was also used to prepare an extra set of custom wheels for the carriage so that it can handle the sand when they traverse through the sand dunes.

Subaru was now on his bed, Beatrice was already asleep but he was awake, he couldn't help but stare at the crystal on the table side, "Hey… you awake?"

'...'

No reply. It's been a whole eight days, she hasn't even said a word. He was quite restless, these past days, knowing that someone is in there, though, they won't reply. "Come on Ella, no need to be like that, do I have to force you outta there?" He got up and picked up the crystal, "You're acting weird, you're not planning on doing something are you?"

"..."

Still no reply, he let out a big sigh and placed the crystal down, "It's been kinda lonely these days…" Suddenly he felt an almost unnoticeable energy blast the room, it was minute but he felt it, "W-what was… are the warning crystals malfunctioning?" He got up and looked under his bed. He grabbed a colorless crystal under it and examined it, "Out of juice I guess… eh, I'll have Fredrica replace it tomorrow… if you're not coming out, then good-night... _yawn_ "

He went back to bed, pulling the sheets over him and getting close to Beatrice. The crystal on the table was glowing, a faint purple. 'Stop lying to yourself' A shadowy voice said, but no one was there to hear it, everyone was already asleep, awaiting the day where they leave, for another adventure, an adventure that ends with the beginning of something special…

* * *

 **A/N**

This was a quick chapter update, mostly because it's just filler with a little bit of fluff in the end there, by the way, some trivia here, "Stop lying to yourself", it may be obvious who said that but it's probably not who you think, and the person who it's said, may be obvious as well, but it's probably not, try guessing who said it to who. _My futile attempt at trying to get people to Review…_

Anyway, next chapter should be out soon, if I keep up the pace that is… I'm probably gonna copy a lot of the Arc 6 chapter title as Warlock chapter titles so yeah, there's that… and also, I'm gonna write this blindly, last time I read Arc 6 was about half a year ago, so I'm gonna go with what I have on my mind right now, don't feel like re-reading the Remon translated chapters or the wiki summary… I'll try to get the points all right though…

So yeah, see ya in a few days! Stay healthy and be sure to Review!


	23. Chapter 21: Stardust

**Warlock of Sin. Arc 3: Linking the Past and the Present**

 **Chapter 21: Stardust**

The journey that would take about a month had started. They were all uneasy, always worrying if they have packed enough for the whole trip, was there enough food? Water? Spare clothes? Would they be able to reach the Watchtower? And, would the sage really be able to help them with their problems… but they would worry about it when the time comes. For now, they concentrated on moving forward.

"I can't take this anymore… Hey, Julius, let's talk about something, I'm going crazy here…" said Subaru as he hung his head low. They used two smaller carriages instead of one big one so traveling would be easier and faster, as of right now, Subaru and Julius were driving. Emilia and Anastasia were on one, Meili was on the other, Beatrice was asleep on Subaru's lap. "I can't stare at Beako's cute sleeping face forever to appease my boredom…"

Julius put his hand on his chin and thought for a second, "Have you heard anything about my lineage?" Julius asked, "Not a single idea, why bring it up? This sounds like some kinda personal info if you ask me..." Subaru replied, looking uninterested. "Well, it's actually common knowledge. Ferris and Reinhard know about it, most of the Imperial Knights, captain Marcos, even Anastasia-sama…"

"Well I'm no proper knight, why would I need to know this?"  
"No, I just felt like I wanted you to know since you're the one who knows me the most right now"

"God this is getting cheesy fast… but, why not, let's hear it…" He lightly pulled on the reins, signaling Patrasche to slow down. He repositioned Beatrice so that she's in a comfortable position, then he let out a sigh, "You're not going to start by telling me Joshua isn't your real brother are you?" Subaru said jokingly, but Julius nodded, "That was actually what I wanted to address to you first… you see, my father, Klein Juukulius, had passed away when I was younger. His younger brother, Alviero Juukulius, the current head of the Juukulius household and the father of Joshua, took me in and had taken care of me since, so in a sense, we are brothers, but in reality, we are cousins…"

"Cousins, siblings, does it matter? Makes no difference to me really… Haah, well then I guess since you've told me yours, does that mean you'd want to hear about mine?"  
"It's only fair, though if you don't want to, I'm okay with it…"  
"Hey, you can't give something without expecting something back, that's my way… anyway, let's start with…"

"..."

"Subaru?"

"..."

"You know, you don't really have-"  
"I forgot them…"

Subaru could feel his heartbeat steadily increasing, he gets it now, "Everything before the moment I met Emilia… I've forgotten it all…" His parents, his home, the other world, those were the memories that Sin Archbishop of Gluttony, Louise Arneb, had taken, though it wasn't anything important as of right now, those memories were probably precious, and now they were gone, "You've forgotten?"

"The moment he touched my face, that was when I lost it… but it was only before the first time I was in the capital… why?" The first time he's been to the Capital, the place where he first met Emilia, that was, "When I got the witches scent…" He said in a low murmur, inaudible to Julius. Subaru glanced over at the crystal on his neck, 'So she was the reason I kept my memories…' a great chance to bait her out he thought.

"Mind if I take some time to sort this out…"  
"Be my guest…"

Subaru whipped the reins and moved forward, he looked over to the crystal, "Ya heard me right?" 'Your assumption that I'm the reason you still remember things in Lugnica are wrong Subaru…' Her sudden voice and rebutal startled him. He was trying to get her to talk but he didn't think she'd do it so easily, "Eheh… what do you-"

'I only appeared after you came to Sanctuary, I wasn't present before that, during the white whale conquest, the mabeast incident, Elsa's attack in the capital, you remembered it because of 'her', we visited your parents after Sanctuary remember?'

"Uh…"

"Of course, you don't, because at that moment, the witches grasp on you had lessened, making you less resistant to other authorities, that's why you completely forgot about your parents and your sister…"

"Gh… Can't you let a guy thank you for once?"  
'You had no reason to thank me…'  
"H-Hey! Don't be like that!"

"Come on… and there she goes all depressed again… oh, we're here…"

* * *

After reaching the town of Mirula, they headed straight for the stables to park their dragons and to an inn. By the time they reached there, "Sand time" had already started, the whole town was engulfed in a sandstorm, though the winds weren't too strong, the amount of sand that was hurled at them was a problem, the innkeeper did say that they had to hire people to sweep it up every twelve hours, and they paid a hefty amount for that.

"Ah man, and here I thought I'd be able to sunbathe for a while…"  
"This is no time to relax you know, Subaru"

"Aww, come on Emilia-tan I was just joking"

Everyone had to split up and walk around town to ask for information about the Watchtower and the Auriga sand dunes, Beatrice and Meili stayed back though, as conversations weren't really their areas of expertise. Subaru and Emilia had gone off to a bar while Julius and Anastasia went to a marketplace.

Subaru opened the bar doors and entered in, Emilia coming in behind him. He ruffled up his gray cloak, revealing his new set of clothes. A loose Black and orange striped jacket, the colors matched his old tracksuit which he left back at the mansion, but the design differed, he still wore his black t-shirt under it though.

Emilia wore a cloak that was different from her usual one, it was white with silver linings on the edges, under it, she had similar clothing to Subaru's but much longer and were silver with lavender highlights. She had a medium sized skirt which stretched down to her knees. Both of them had white masks that covered only their mouths but had removed them upon entering the bar.

"Hmm, seems kinda empty…"

Subaru said as he looked around. The only person in was the bartender, who looked at them with a bored smile and grabbed two glasses, "Don't really get many customers here… best would be three or four at a time…" He replied to Subaru as he handed them a piece of paper that served as a menu.

"I'll have iced tea please…"  
"And for the missus?"  
"I'd like some milk if you don't mind"

"Tea and milk coming up…"

The bartender turned away from them and took a step forward, Subaru and Emilia heard a thumping sound, not the kind a foot would make, "So what brings you two lovebirds over here? Not really the best place for a honeymoon ya know?"

"I wish this was a honeymoon, but we're here for something a little bit more serious than that…"  
"Ya taken on the tower? Of course, you are, it's the only reason people ever come here, and the reason they don't come back…"  
"You make it sound like it's impossible"

"That's exactly what I'm saying"

He said as he harshly put down the two drinks in front of them, "All I gotta say is that if the mabeasts aren't gonna kill you, then the Miasma will do the job…" He sat down on a stool as and sighed, the thumping sound was heard again.

"Well, then this is gonna be tough…"  
"But we can't just give up Subaru, everyone in Pristella is counting on us"  
"I guess, can't disappoint them, now can we…"

"Good luck on that, make sure you visit again… if you make it alive…"

Subaru and Emilia finished their drinks quickly and got up, putting down a silver coin for him, disappointed that they didn't get much out of their talk. Before they headed out, Subaru turned to the bartender, "You tried to conquer the tower once didn't you?" He said. The bartender could only raise his eyebrow at this.

"What makes you think that?"  
"You got a wooden pegleg, you lost the real thing while you were on the sand dunes right?"

"Sharp little brat… you're the first one to notice that"  
"Mind if I take a look at it?"

The bartender shrugged and showed the two his pegleg, a dark brown piece of wood sticking out from his leg, "It got bitten off while I tried to escape, if it weren't for a bunch of traveling merchants, I'd be dead there…"

"Hey, here's a question, if you had a chance to get your leg back, would you take it?"  
"What kinda question is that? Course I'd fucking take my leg back"  
"Then I guess I can do this…"

Subaru eyes glimmered red and he grabbed the bartenders pegleg, "Oi! What are you-" He ripped it off, and blood started spurting out like crazy. The bartender's eyes widened and he fell to the ground, touching the wound. Emilia could only wince at the sight. Before he could let out a scream Subaru stabbed into the skin with his normal arm, the one that wasn't affected by Lust's Dragon veins. Miraculously, the man's leg started to grow back until it was fully regenerated.

"There we go…"

As Subaru was done, he took his hands off of him and wiped off the blood with a nearby handkerchief.

"W-What… what is this?!"  
"It's a new leg, you said you'd take the chance right?"  
"But… but… what kind of witchery is this!"

"Witchery? I'm not even sure what to call it myself, but think of it as a tip, right, let's go Emilia-tan…"  
"Right…"

As the two were about to leave the bar, the man called out to them, "Wait!" They turned back and looked at him, "There have been sightings… flocks of white birds would usually fly over the Auriga sand dunes in the direction of the Watchtower…"

"White birds huh… thanks, we'll see what we can do with that"

* * *

Everyone met back in the inn, Emilia and Subaru is the only one who found useful information, "White birds flocking towards the tower seems unusual. They could be something disguised as birds…" Julius said.

"That's an option… but I doubt we'll find anything about it now"  
"We can then at least use them in case we lose sight of the tower, I suppose…"  
"Now that's using your head Beako! So about the 'Sand time'..."

"It would be best if we stay put when it happens, don't want sand getting in our eyes now do we" Anastasia replied. "And if we get it in our mouths it'd be even worse, who knows how much Miasma it's absorbed"

"Ah, your right, getting that stuff in my mouth wouldn't really taste nice…"  
"If we were to eat it, it'd taste as bad as Onii-san smells"  
"I'd like it if you don't comment on the things I can't control, Meili…"

.

And so after a whole nights rest, they went off to the sand dunes, that is, after switching Julius's ground dragon with one that was more suited for the environment, "So what are you gonna call em?"

"Even though it may be only for a while, you still gotta give it a name you know?"  
"Well, then I guess Flavion would do for now…"

Julius petted his borrowed ground dragon, his own ground dragon, Shaknar, was left back at the stables. Apparently, it wasn't the type that could handle sandy terrain for reasons that were irrelevant to Subaru.

"Your own ground dragon is of the Diana species, it's said to be the ancestor of all the ground dragons, so naturally it would be able to survive on multiple terrains"

"Really? Well then, you hear that Patrasche, you're basically the ultimate ground dragon!" With a prideful roar from Patrasche, the group finally departs to the sand dunes, with their eyes set on the watchtower and nothing else.

* * *

"Why… why is it soo goddamn cold here!"

Subaru whined as he rubbed his hands together, "This is a fucking desert, I expected it to be like a hundred degrees or something!" After an hour of traveling, Subaru couldn't take the cold. "We never said this was a desert, it's just sand dunes, Subaru" Julius replied calmly. He wore a much thicker cloak, so did everyone else, so Subaru was the only one freezing to death.

"Don't sand dunes only appear on deserts!?"  
"There's a misunderstanding there Subaru, the intensity of Miasma here killed off all the plants and left the place baren…"  
"Well, that makes sense… wait why didn't anyone tell me earlier, I can't handle this cold!"

"So noisy, I suppose!"  
"Beako, I'm literally freezing to death right here!"

.

Subaru sat in the corner, huddled with Beatrice for warmth, Emilia handed him her cloak but it still wasn't enough, "S-So, Cold… c-cold…" "This is embarrassing, I suppose… of all the things you can't handle why is it the cold, I wonder…"

"Beako, that's like asking why you get anxious when you can't find me…"  
"W-What!? B-Betty doesn't' get anxious when Subaru goes missing, I suppose!"  
"That's right, Beatrice, there was that one time when you were-"

"Shut up, Shut up, I suppose!"

As time passes, the first day had gone by. There would be a total of four 'Sand times' a day, and they typically last for about an hour each, which leaves the rest of the time for traveling. It was now night time and everyone was out of the carriage to eat dinner, most of the cooking was done by Julius since Subaru had below average cooking skills, which frustrated him a bit since he was technically a butler once.

"Well, I can at least put up a flame…"

He headed over to a hole in the ground filled with a bunch of charcoal, a basic stove. He held his hand out and chanted, "Authority of Wrath - Infernal touch" A small purple flame shot out of his hand, it touched the charcoal and it caught on fire, the purple and orange flames were fighting over dominance with the purple flame seeming to be on the winning side, that was until Subaru swiped it away.

"Eh, why'd you stop, it looked pretty Subaru…"  
"My purple flames don't make heat so we can't use it for cooking, Emilia-tan…"  
"Oh…"

As Emilia fascinated over the fire with Meili, Subaru sat patiently with Beatrice and Patrasche, waiting for the meal to be prepared, but Julius came and sat down with them, "Aren't you supposed to be making dinner?"

"Emilia-sama and Anastasia-sama is watching the fire..."  
"I see, so what you want to talk about?"

"Well, I just want to fill you in on some things you might want to know. You've heard about the previous sword saint right Subaru?"

"Wilhelm's wife? Theresia right? She got defeated by the white whale, is there's more to this story?"

"This would be going too deep into the Astrea family but as Reinhard's friends, I think you might want to know…"  
"Go on…"

"Fourteen years ago, there was a group formed to kill off the White whale, it consisted of hundreds of men, all of them under the command of Heinkel Astrea, Reinhard's father. You might know him as the deputy commander of the Royal guards, with Marcos being the head. The day they were supposed to leave for battle, Heinkel refused to go, I don't know too much about why, but Theresia had to take his place there…"

"So… a switch that leads to the death of to the other… doesn't seem like too much drama to me…"

"That was just the beginning, Subaru… at the time the sword saint alone would have been enough to take on the White whale, but even though, they failed, isn't it weird? The strongest swordsman at the time, defeated by a beast that was taken down by only a hundred men in the future? It shocked many people, but there was a reason… at the time of the White whale conquest, Reinhard gained the Divine protection of Sword saint…"

"He… wait, then that means…"

"Yes, the reason why the sword saint had fallen then wasn't entirely because of the beast, but because of the sudden transfer of the blessing… it'd be easy to say that Reinhard was the reason Theresia died…"

"Bullshit… so his dad just pushed the blame on his son?"

"I'm not sure but it might seem so… at first, it was probably just him taking his anger out, but shortly after, Wilhelm left the Astrea house in search for the whale. After that day, the family grew ever so distant, but it only got worse when his mother caught the 'Sleeping Beauty' Illness. After that, I don't think there has been a time where his father had called him 'Reinhard' or 'Son', it's just been 'Sword Saint' or 'Greatest Swordsman'..."

"That bastard…? So what's the point of all this?"  
"Yes, let's not go off topic... don't you think it's weird that they haven't found her body after the incident. And i'm talking about her body alone"

A sudden thought struck Subaru, the only way Theresia's body would be gone is if she was directly eaten by the whale, but if that was the case, no one would be able to remember her. Since that's false, there could only be one explanation, "There was something else at play during the subjugation..."

"Exactly... i've been wondering about that ever since we've finally taken down the whale last month"  
"Most probably the witch cult... "

.

"So my mom's name is Naoko, dad is Kenichi, and I got a sister named Isumi, okay, that seems believable…"  
"Did you doubt Betty, I suppose!?"  
"Well, then what country did I come from?"

"That's a secret, I suppose…"

"A secret?! You can't keep my country of origin a secret from me! I deserve to know it, come one Beako!"  
"No, we made a contract that said I can't talk about it, you know"  
"R-Really? I even made a contract?!"  
"No, not really…"  
"Guh, then tell me why don't you!"

"Anyway, Betty is tired of sitting around, I suppose… Betty will wait by the fire…"

With that Beatrice left off, sensing that an awkward moment may arise, Subaru decided to get up as well, "Hey Julius, you better not slack of doing anything unknightly you hear?"

"Why would I do such a thing?"

"No one knows who you are, and, as much as I hate to admit it, there is a chance this thing might not work out, if that happens, then you're off the hook if you do anything, like I said, no one remembers you, so you do something not your usual self, no ones gonna give a shit, but I'll blow that head off of you"

"Is that a threat?"

"Oho it's a threat alright, no matter what, even if everyone forgets you, I still remember you, you better not forget that, if you go around spoiling around that 'Greatest Knight' title everyone's been bragging about, then what good is it when I beat you?"

"...?"

"Ugh, just don't you go doing something that makes you look bad alright, can't brag about myself otherwise, right then, see ya…"

Subaru left a speechless Julius behind, as he left to check on dinner, Julius chuckled to himself a bit, re-thinking about what he said, mostly about the 'I still remember you' part, "Even if I try, I don't think I'll be able to not act like a knight… hah… well like he said, I can't go slacking off now..." After contemplating to himself, Julius joined the rest as they had their dinner under the bright stars.

* * *

 **A/N**

Okay, took two days longer for this one cause I was too caught up in a manga that was recommended to me by a friend, but fortunately that Manga is still 'In progress' so I already read the latest chapter, which in and of itself is annoying but at least I get to concentrate on Warlock more now…

As a result of preparing for Arc 8, Red has asked me to slow down a tad bit so that other things can catch up, so expect the completion of the Forgive Me [Remake] and possibly a new story, where Subaru was born in Lugnica and goes through Arcs 1 - 3, there's that and one more I'm gonna make after Warlock finishes…

I've got the whole May and the start of June littered with examination dates so expect some inconsistency in the updates okay? Anyway, Liquid's back and I'm dying for another Re: Archbishop chapter, finally gets to the good part then there's a sudden hiatus, if I wasn't busy with IRL I might've died there…

See ya I guess… 3 days to two weeks updates


	24. Chapter 22: An Unwelcoming Welcome

**Warlock of Sin. Arc 3: Linking the Past and the Present**

 **Chapter 22: An Unwelcoming Welcome**

It's been three days now, and they were making no progress whatsoever, the tower seemed to stay where it was, despite them traveling in the sand dunes for so long. "At this rate, we'll starve before we get any closer…" Subaru sighed as he stared off into the distance.

"This does seem rather unnatural, there must be some sort of magic at play here…" Julius inquired.  
"Distorting space this large a scale would require an extremely skilled Yang user and a large mana pool, I suppose…"

"I smell sage all over here and it smells bad, this is probably how they keep people away, there's gotta be another way here…" As Subaru contemplates on the thought, something starts following them from behind, "This could be like a teleportation trick where we keep getting sent back without-"

Before Subaru could finish his sentence, something leaped from the side. Without even turning his head, he aimed his palm at it and chanted "Minya" Three purple bolts were set loose, striking at its vital parts and instantly killing it, and what do you know, it just so happened to be an Ulgram, "Well, well, been a while since I've seen on of you guys… anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, the sage may be teleporting us back, causing us to loop around endlessly without us knowing…"

"That's one good hypothesis, Natsuki-kun… if that were the case, then all we'd need to do is to-"

The ground shook and in front of them, the sand collapsed and out came another mabeast, looking very similar to an earthworm, only about 200 times larger.

"My your a rude one aren't you…"  
"Emilia-tan…?"  
"Meili-chan is still asleep Subaru"

"Then let er rip Beako!"  
"El-Lahm"

She chanted with outstretched arms, the giant earthworm mabeast thing suddenly collapsed to the ground, burying itself back into the sand. "As I was saying… all we'd need to do is to travel during a time where the sage won't be able to see us, then their magic won't work" "But that'd leave the question, where or when do we go?" Julius inquired.

"Might I make a suggestion?" Wilhelm suddenly asked, "A time when the sage would be unable to see us… my suggestion is that we make our way through the Sand dunes during 'Sand Time', the sandstorm should cover us and our tracks, we could make some distance then…"

"Ah, now that's an idea, Wilhelm-san! So, when's the next Sand time?"  
"Three hours, Natsuki-kun"  
"Of course it is…"

* * *

For exactly three hours, the group rested, not really doing anything, well there was nothing much to do. Subaru tried to talk to Satella, but there was no response, as usual.

In the sky, they saw something, a flock of doves heading straight in the direction of the watchtower, the white birds traveling to the tower, just as the bartender said, "If they're moving now, it would seem our guess was correct, alright then, next stop, whatever is on the other side of the storm…" Subaru and Julius whipped their reins and closed off their faces with their masks. Shut the wooden panels on their carriages and went straight in.

The group pushed through the sandstorm, barely able to see anything, the strong winds slamming millions of sand particles straight at their carriages, dragons and pretty everything that's not covered. Lucky for the dragons, their divine protection of wind evasion seems to be helping with keeping the strong winds and sands out.

"This is much worse than I tho-" Subaru muffled voice was stopped as he took in a bit of sand in through his nose. "So much worse…"

After a whole hour of aimlessly traveling through during Sand time, they finally got to a place that was not completely sand. "HA! We made it!" As the final speck of sand fell to the ground, the group was introduced to blue skies and what seems to be a field of flowers. "So we did, I suppose…"

"This would be the farthest anyone has gone, according to records, only sand has been sighted so far in the sand dunes…"  
"That means we I got a boost in the royal election, hehe!"

Anastasia and the rest got out of the carriages and started dusting off their clothes, "I'd stay and celebrate this moment if I weren't in such a hurry" Subaru said while taking off his cloak. "Indeed, it has already been two months since we have left Pristella, the Lust victims are fine in the ice but the Gluttony victims like Rem-dono are going to encounter a far amount of hardship unless we complete our mission"

"Got that right Wilhelm-san…"

Subaru walked over to the flower bed with his jacket on his shoulder, he senses an odd presence nearby, definitely a mabeast or two, as no one else could have reached them so it was most definitely a mabeast. "The feeling is here but I can't see them… maybe they're underground again… or they're invisible…" "Subaru! What are you doing over there?"

"Oh, well, just felt like taking a look at these flowers you know!"

Emilia went over to Subaru, intending to look at the flowers as well, that was before Patrasche and the other ground dragon, Falvion, started growling, making Emilia stop in her tracks and look back, Subaru doing the same. Julius and Wilhelm tried to calm them down but they wouldn't, Subaru knew their instincts were kicking in, something was near just as he felt, the question was where.

"..."

He felt more, more were coming closer, he looked around the sandy floor but there was nothing, "GRAAOO!" but after sudden deep growl, he realised that the mabeast was behind him, but it was too late, he felt large claws dig onto his back as, and the next moment, he was flat on the ground.

"Subaru!"

They all turned around in shock, Emilia tried to go and help Subaru but Beatrice held her back, "Beatr-!" "Look before you go, I suppose!" The flower bed started to rise, giving view to eroded soil, or what seems like it. In fact, it was a mabeast, it's body was reminiscent of a grizzly bear, and it's wrinkled skin was as rotten as soggy meat left out in a ditch for months. It's hind legs are rather short but the front ones that hit Subaru went pretty far out.

One by one, they started appearing, equating to almost forty. "Rush in now, and your elf-meat, I suppose…" "That's half… half-elf meat, Beako…" They all gasped when they heard Subaru's muffled voice, "S-Subaru?!" "This things got some nerve… getting me behind my back…" He stabbed his hands into the sand and "Kaho-Minya!" the ground shook a bit and giant Minya spikes sprouted out from the ground, stabbing the mabeast, and rendering it immobile.

Subaru slowly stood up, his red eyes shone brightly, he raised his arm and the claws that were stabbing him in the back were ripped off along with the arm, it floated up above Subaru and he shouted, "Authority of sloth - Invisible Providence" and the arm was torn to shreds, blood raining down. "Are you guys just gonna stay there or what!?"

A few bears nearby got flung back as Subaru ran back, "Phla Illuim!" Julius held his sword out, intending to shot out a beam of light to blast the mabeast away from Subaru, but nothing happened, "Idiot! Your spirits aren't gonna help you when they don't know you!" Subaru scrambled forward as Emilia got two shots into the head of the one chasing him.

"What the hell are these things… mummy bear things..."  
"Mabeast called Oiranguma, they are indigenous to Kararagi, but I guess they appear in other places too, maybe Mei"

Julius answered him while getting Anastasia back into the dragon carriage, "These guys… they won't listen to me so we have to get away" Meili said while peeking from the side. Wilhelm got Patrasche ready and Subaru grabbed onto Emilia and Beatrice, leaping up to the top of the carriage, "Let's make a break for it!"

Julius and Wilhelm sped off in the other direction, the bears weren't leaving them alone though, they ran after them, and they were quick. Because of their body proportions, they seemed to walk like gorillas, swinging their waist forward with their long arms and kicking off with their short feet. "This isn't good!" Subaru, Emilia, and Beatrice shot out several Minya bolts and Ice spears in an attempt to stop them, but their numbers were too much.

"Man, this is the Great hare all over again! Emilia hold me!"

Emilia grabbed hold of Subaru hand and he went down the carriage, the road was bumpy so he nearly fell at times but he managed to hang from the back to touch the ground, then he chanted, "El-Kaho-Minya!" From the ground, more purple crystals sprouted out but they went up in a way that it made a wall between them and the bears, effectively stopping them in their tracks.

"That should sto-"

The ground started to shake again, and a blast of blinding light was seen, Subaru couldn't tell what it was, but it was powerful for sure. After the light dissipated, the whole carriage broke apart, Subaru reflexively grabbed ahold of Beatrice and Emilia and jumped off the carriage, only to see it being swallowed whole by a giant earthworm, everyone inside, including the ground dragons, were taken in in one fell swoop.

"Patrasche!"

Subaru landed to the ground and did a mad dash away from it, but unfortunately, he was trapped between it and the bears who miraculously were able to break through his wall, "S-Shit!" Seeing no other way around the problem, Subaru set the sand around them on fire, making for a temporary barrier between them.

"Subaru, what do we do, should we go back?!"  
"Guh!?"

The giant earthworm kept it's distance, knowing full well it's now dangerous to approach, but the bears went anyway. Though, as soon as they touched the flame, they backed off, their skin becoming more black than before, "Gotta think of something fast… what to do… what to fucking do!" The three panicked, what should they do? Their friends were swallowed by the giant earthworm but they aren't digested yet so there's still a chance to save them, yet if they do that, the bears behind them could possibly take that opportunity to finish them off.

A predicament it is and they were definitely gonna have to scrape a few bones in order to get out of this, "Oi! Ella! Get out here and help us out will you!" No reply, the crystal on Subaru's neck just stayed there, blankly emitting faint purple light, this pissed Subaru off, "Now's not the time to go all depressed! We're in a life or death situation here!" He screamed harder, but there was still no response, not a single response.

"God damn-!"

The ground shook again, and the sand under their feet started to collapse. They were so busy panicking that they didn't notice the giant earthworm dig underneath them. They fell down and were met with sharp rows of teeth and a seemingly never-ending tunnel of insides. "SHIIIIT!" The next second they were swallowed…

* * *

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'I…'

Subaru heard a voice say, a voice he's very familiar with.

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'Sorry…'

The voice said as it swirled around in the never-ending darkness.

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"What do you mean?"

Subaru stared into the familiar darkness, one he hasn't been able to visit for a while, and asked the voice.

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'I wasn't able to hold on long enough'

The voice replied with remorse, guilt, and sadness.

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"..."

Silence.

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'This is farewell…'

The voice said, before dispersing into light.

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* * *

"..."

What was that dream, Subaru thought to himself. The last time he's experienced something like that was when he died the first time during Sloth's subjugation, and that was months ago.

Subaru stared blankly into the field of flowers in the distance, "I… Returned by…" feeling a little lost, he laid down beside the carriage, catching everyone's attention, which seemed to get his mind back. "Subaru?" Emilia said to him, "Quiet…" He replied a bit harshly.

"S-Sorry… did I...?"  
"Over in that flower bed… are mabeast, we proceed with utter silence from here…"

They all looked over to the flower bed in the distance and noticed it, hook-like claws extending from the tips of the flower bed, "Oiranguma…" Julius whispered, the other quickly recognizing what they were. Subaru got up with the help of Julius and everyone got back inside. They proceeded through silently, making sure not to make a sound of any kind.

"..."

They past through, seeing the flowers flutter lightly in the wind, just asking to be picked. Subaru looked away and continued forward. Flavion however, started to get restless, seems he's not comfortable walking near these guys. Anymore sound and they'll wake up so Subaru summoned an unseen hand to stroke its head, helping to calm him down.

"..."

They continued, almost making it to the other side, but then he got a glimpse of a flash of light, similar to the one before. He frantically looked around, knowing danger was near, but was too late, whatever that made that light was, it already impacted with the ground, causing a huge blast of light to shower them, almost like a flashbang. Unfortunately, the Oiranguma all had woken up and were angry.

"Everyone! Make a run for it!"

Subaru made went in a took Emilia and Beatrice with him, jumping off the carriage and landing on a platform of Minya, "Wilhelm! You take Patrasche with Meili, ditch the carriages!" Following Subaru's instructions, Wilhelm grabbed Meili and hopped onto Patrasche, her reluctantly accepting him. Anastasia went with Julius and they snapped off the line connecting the dragons with the carriages and made a run for it.

With the carriages gone, they were able to outrun the Oiranguma and make some distance between them, but that was only the least of their worries. Far atop on the watchtower, Subaru saw another flash of light, and saw some sort of large needle coming straight for them, Beatrice and Emilia noticed it too.

"Beako! EMM!"

He held Beatrice's hand and made a stop, he got off and spread his arms out allowing the needle to go straight for him, "Bring it on!" The needle of light collided with Subaru's body, making sparks fly off into the air, but the defensive spell stopped it from reaching any further. "Hah!" But suddenly, the needles started to dig into the barrier around them, making the two wide-eyed.

"I-Impossib-"

And before they knew it, the needle of light had gone straight through Subaru, stabbing through his chest and digging deep into the ground, bringing Subaru along with it. "Subaru-dono!" The others were shocked by the sudden attacked and hurried over to help Subaru take the needle out of his chest, but no luck, that's when Subaru's eyes turned red, "Authority of Greed - Spacial Rend!" Subaru then suddenly disappeared, so did the large volume of sand under him, but not the needle.

He appeared a ways away and fell down with a ton of sand below him piling up on the ground.

Everyone rushed over to him and saw a big hole bored into his abdomen, about the size of your average dodgeball, blood leaking out of it. "Subaru, don't worry, we'll heal you!" "Hang in there, I suppose" Beatrice and Emilia started healing him non stop, pumping mana into his system. He was able to shift his head to the side and take a look at the top of the tower, just barely able to see a person standing atop it. "The… the…" Subaru tried to speak out, but his lungs heart hurt too much to properly speak.

"Subaru-dono, refrain from saying anything, you are in critical condition"  
"The sage is up there!"

They all looked over and to their surprise, they did see someone on top of the watchtower, though the distance made it impossible to discern any features. They were holding what seemed to be a needle, the one that Stabbed Subaru just a moment ago, Julius stood up and shouted out at the top of his voice, "Great sage! Please, we are need of your assistance, sp-"

"Julius get back!"

Another needle was shot out and was coming straight for them, Julius backed up and unsheathed his sword, ready to counter the attack, Wilhelm was prepared as well, but Subaru grabbed Beatrice's hand and chanted, "EMT!" the area surrounding Subaru and Beatrice was encompassed with an unseen force, it expelled all the mana in a ten metre radius, making Emilia unable to proceed with her healing magic.

The needle continued its trajectory for the group, but as soon as it reached the ten meter forcefield, it was instantly dissipated, "Subaru, deactivate EMT, I can't heal you now!" "Just need to think for a while… then we can go… back..." He stood up, completely ignoring Emilia's request. He walked forward, stumbling in his steps, "Oi, Sage-san… aren't you supposed to help people?" He said, obviously in a low voice.

"Natsuki-kun, that's enough!"  
"Subaru-dono, please rest!"

The onslaught of needle attacks just got stronger from then on, but it wasn't able to reach past the forcefield around Subaru, "Hey… tell us something will you…" He said, not to the sage but to the crystal in his neck, "You basically sleep here right? This is your prison, you should at least know the layout right!?" he said, seems like he's going insane to the pain.

"Subaru enough!" Emilia said while hugging him from the back, "This is no time to be fucking depressed you hear me! We're gonna die here, and you're in there thinking about your own nonexistent problems!" No matter how hard he yelled, there was no reply from the crystal, from the person inside.

"..."  
"Subaru…?"  
"Fine, you want to do it that way then be it…"

Subaru collapsed to the ground, no longer able to hold his body upright. He was caught by Emilia and was laid back, his hand still holding onto Beatrice keeping the forcefield intact, "Let's try this again…" he said weakly, "Kaho… Minya…" Everyone was beside Subaru as purple spikes shot out from the ground, stabbing them all, leaving no one alive.

* * *

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"Where are you?"

Subaru asked as he stares off into the darkness.

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'...'

Silence

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"Answer me!"

He shouted, his voice echoing back to him.

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'...'

Silence again.

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"Silence"

Silence.

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"..."

…..

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"Just come out already…"

* * *

A/N

Okay, had a seriously hard time writing the Sand time crossing part, maybe I should have read Remon's translations of Arc 6 after all… nah, I don't have the time for that… next chapter is Re- Life in a fantasy world, also expect a prequel chapter for Warlock, gonna explain Ella's past and why she's acting the way she is right now, don't think i made it clear enough in chapter 18/19.

Trivia!

Kaho-Minya: A spell that shakes the ground slightly and makes giant purple crystals of Minya shoot out from the ground.  
El-Kaho-Minya: The same spell but it spreads out like a wall.  
Ul-Kaho-Minya: The same spell but it shoots forward, reaching far off opponents.  
Al-Kaho-Minya: The same spell but it's much bigger and goes in a circle around Subaru, radius depends on mana consumption.

Kaho derived from the japanese word - 花穂 which is Kangi i think? It's translated to Kaho, but pronounced Kasui in japanese.

Some tense moments, but we'll get through it some day…  
Five days to two weeks! See ya then!


	25. Chapter 23: A Cave and a Door

**Warlock of Sin. Arc 3: Linking the Past and The Present**

 **Chapter 23: A Cave and a Door**

 _Changelog: Authority of Green from [Time Stillness Counter] refer to A/N for more information._

 **.**

Subaru's eyes opened up, his heart beating like crazy, once again, he had Return by Death. "Hk…" He refrained from saying anything as he noticed he was on Patrasche, slowing crossing through the field of flowers. "Subaru… is something wrong?" He heard Julius's whisper from beside him. He looked at him with eyes of dread, wanting to turn around this instant, but he knew it was futile.

"No matter what… don't stop…" He replied while putting a finger in his mouth, telling him to be as silent as possible. Julius nodded and went on forward, treading with utmost caution. Subaru thought back on what had happened. The needle attacks were definitely by the Sage, and they were able to pierce through his unbreakable EMM, the Sage was that powerful. Turning around would be pointless, they would still be in the sage's range and they'll attack. The mabeast are also a problem, when one attacks, others swarm in.

Once they reached the other side, they started to pick up speed, still being cautious of their surroundings. Subaru thought to why the Sage would attack them, the first reason that popped up was that the Sage was just protecting the tower and they didn't have any way to confirm that we were good or bad, the other reason would be because of Subaru, the Sage may be able to smell Witch Miasma, and thus might think he's with the cult.

"Things just never go right when your involved does it?" He looked over to the crystal around his neck, it was dim and dull, the vibrant purple before was now gone. The crystal wasn't glowing at all, that signaled something was wrong and Subaru knew it, "I told you we didn't need to go if you didn't want to…"

"Subaru, incoming!" As Subaru was busy talking to himself, Julius spotted a light spear coming straight for them. Subaru reacted instantly, "Beako! EMT!" Beatrice came over to the front and grabbed Subaru's hand, and a mana negating forcefield was set up. The light spear came straight for them but vanished instantly when it came in contact with the forcefield.

"Eh, Subaru what's wrong?"  
"We're under attack, get ready we might have to fight back!"

The flurry of light spears didn't stop, the Sage, the one Subaru presumes to be the one shooting the bolts, kept on going, not giving them a second to rest. "We can't hold it up for too long, Subaru…" Beatrice said, "I know that but…" the situation is too dire, is what he wanted to say, but that would cause panic for the others.

"We have to go onwards, we'll keep the forcefield for as long as we can!" Wilhelm took lead of Patrasche while Subaru and Beatrice went over to the top of the carriage, maintaining the forcefield around them. They edged closer and closer, the light spears not ceasing one bit, "Man, don't they know when to give up?" After he said that the light spears stopped appearing.

"Did they stop?" Subaru asked, "No, they realized we weren't blocking their attacks, rather, we were neutralizing it, I suppose, they're waiting for when we retract EMT…" Beatrice replied to him, "Then we'll just have to keep this up until we reach them…"

Subaru glanced over to Beatrice and saw her struggling to keep up, so he carried her up, "Just hold on for little longer, okay?" "Hmph… this is nothing, I suppose…" She replied weakly.

They now went full speed through the sand, the light spears no longer a problem. "Subaru-dono, how long do we have?" "Beako won't be able to hold it for long, a few more minutes and we're done for…" The ground then started to trembling, putting everyone on edge and in the distance, they could see a sand rising. The bolts had changed targets, "You play dirty, don't you... Everyone split up!" Wilhelm and Julius steered in opposite directions, letting the wave of sand pass them.

Their forcefield around them had then disappeared, Beatrice appearing unconscious in Subaru's arm, "Beako! Hang in there…" With them being completely open for an attack.

He kept watch on the tower, waiting for that spear of light to attack them, and one was shot, but it was going straight for Julius's carriage. "SHIT!" Without any magic to protect him, Julius is left there unguarded, and he was too busy trying to steer his ground dragon the right way to pay attention to the light spear.

Subaru acted quickly and made a rift to him, grabbing his collar and yanking him over to his carriage. "Hold onto Beako, Meili is still in there" Subaru handed Beatrice over to Julius and leaped off the carriage, rifting his way over to the carriage. He grabbed onto Meili and went to the front of the carriage, cutting off the ropes that tied the ground dragon to the carriage, "Get out!" He commanded it and it made a turn to the left, away from danger.

He saw the light spear nearing in on him and rifted back quickly, the carriage destroyed a second after. "Haah… haah…" Subaru was out of breath from that near escape. They were almost to the tower, they could clearly see the base now. "Just a little more, Subaru-dono!" Wilhelm said.

Patrasche pulled all of them behind her, the other ground dragon having fled the battlefield. Another light spear was shot out, and it was much bigger than the others.

Everyone dreaded when they took sight of it. "Time to try some new tricks," Subaru said while formulating his purple crystal sword. He gripped the handle hard and focused on the light spear, like a batter would to a ball, "Counter!" He shouted.

His blade struck the light spear head-on, breaking the moment it made contact, but the light spear didn't move any further, instead, it got knocked straight back. "Hah!" Subaru spat out, but the relief was short-lived as the light spear seemed to circle around, "A fucking homing missile, are you for real now?"

"Invisible Providence!" As it neared them, Subaru summoned two giant unseen hands and managed to grab the light spear and hold it in place, then using all of his strength, he snapped it in two, the spell instantly vanished. Subaru got down to his knees, panting.

Once that was over with, the carriage suddenly stopped, surprising Subaru and Julius. They looked down to see that Wilhelm, Patrasche, Anastasia, and Emilia were gone. "Where are they?!" Subaru said while he went down with Julius and Meili, him taking back Beatrice.

"Did they perhaps fall out?"  
"My Patrasche isn't clumsy, no chance that'd happen"

Subaru looked behind the carriage and he was right, nothing was in sight, nothing but the other ruined carriage. There doesn't seem to be any other place that they could have been in so Subaru came to the conclusion, "They're underground somewhere, maybe they sunk down there or they were teleported somehow"

Meili scanned the area and sniffed the ground, "No mabeast nearby so they weren't eaten, Purple Onii-san" she said to Julius, who nodded in approval. "This could be the working of the Sage, Subaru" "Most likely… but first" Subaru got ready with several purple Minya bolts around him, all pointing to a ledge on the watchtower in front of them.

"They aren't attacking...?"  
"Careful Subaru, you never know when…"

Subaru and Julius suddenly felt dizzy, Meili feeling disoriented as well, "Shit, did we take in too much Miasma?!" Subaru said as he struggled to stay up, "No… Miasma is different…" Meili stuttered out before she fainted, Julius catching her. The dizziness then started to turn into headaches, they clutched their heads and kneeled down to the ground, ever so slowly losing consciousness, until they blacked out.

* * *

'Subaru!'

He heard a voice call out to him. Subaru opened his eyes and was met with a familiar shadowy darkness, the heavy feeling in his chest was apparent, as was the figure in front of him.

'Subaru! Get up!'

Subaru heard the drowned out voice once again, and got up while looking around, "Emilia? Julius? Who's there?!" Though the voice was indiscernible, he knew it was a voice of concern and from either of those since they're the only ones that call him without honorifics, besides Beatrice and her.

"So… I'm here again… with you…" Subaru said while staring at the figure in front of him, it sat in weakly on the ground, seemingly lifeless. "H-Hey…" the darkness made it hard to see but it had unmistakable silver hair, "Satella"

Subaru called out to her nervously, though, in reality, he was pretty angry, furious even. Like one would a stray cat, he walked over to her carefully. "Ella? You alright… there?" Subaru walked closer to her and reached out his hand, he hesitated when he saw her trembling. "Oi, what's wrong?!" He touched her on the shoulder and she flinched, fell down to the ground screaming.

"Get out! Get out! I hate you!" she wailed out while clutching her head in pain, still trembling. "Oi snap out of it!" Subaru grabs her arms as she continues struggling, "Out of my head, get out, get out, get out, get out, get out, get out, get out!" She started to tear out through her lifeless eyes. "Please let me go! I don't want to!"

"SNAP OUT OF IT!"

Subaru gave her a firm slap in the cheek and she suddenly stopped, her tears were still flowing but her sanity seems to have returned. She looked at Subaru, then collapsed to the ground. "He-" "Why…. why are you here…" she said with her weak and crying voice, "It won't help if you're the one saving me again…"

She weakly grabbed onto his shirt, "Please go, I'll be fine now…" "Don't give me that shit, I'll stay here until you're actually fin-" Subaru stopped when Satella stabbed him through his chest and grasped at his heart, "It's enough now, you'll worry everyone else…" And she squeezed it.

* * *

"WAGHH!"

Subaru woke up, grabbing onto his chest, eyes widened, heartbeat skyrocketing, "Subaru, calm down!" Julius, who was beside Subaru said. "What? Where are we?" Subaru got up and looked around, they were in a dark cave, Julius and Meili were beside him, behind him was the carriage and inside was an unconscious Beatrice.

"Your guess was right, it seems like the rest were indeed teleported, just like we were…"  
"I… I see…"

Subaru looked down to his hand, then to his chest, no hole was there. He calmed down and looked around once more, there was some ambient light which was strange, the whole area was enclosed and there doesn't seem to be any light sources anywhere, "Let's get some light first…" He walked over to the carriage and broke off a plank, he lit it on fire with his authority and the cave lit up slightly, a purple flame can only do so much.

"We got the carriage but not the dragon…"

Subaru walked up to it and raised his hands, "Invisible Providence…" Two unseen hands sprouted out and grabbed onto the carriage, "Okay, lead the way, I'll drag the carriage along…" Subaru handed over the torch to Julius and they went on forward. Subaru told Julius to scrape the torch on the wall and he did, reluctantly. The torch left a trail of fire behind it, making the cave much more bright.

"Onii-san, you're stinky you know?"  
"Well complaining won't help anyone out"

Meili pouted as she edged over to Julius, the torch seemed to have burnt out. "Subaru" "Another torch coming right up…" He broke another plank off and set it ablaze, handing it over to Julius. "So Subaru, you were pretty frightened when you woke up, did you have a nightmare?" Julius asked jokingly, "Very funny… I saw a crying girl in my dream, she stabbed me in the chest with her bare hands, then I woke up, sorry if I wasn't scared for my life" He said sarcastically.

The group went on until there was a fork in the road. One went left, the other right, they stopped there and discussed their options, "I feel like something's waiting for us in the left, Onii-san… but I also don't like the right one…" After an inspection by Meili, they know that something, a mabeast probably was waiting in the left path, but the right path seemed eerie for some reason.

"If we go right, the risk would be less…" Subaru said, Julius, agreeing with him. "Right it is then…" Julius went on to lead them. Once they entered through, they could already tell something bad was going on, the atmosphere was ominous and an overall strange feeling was lingering in the air, "On your feet… something is definitely here…" Julius warned them while unsheathing his sword.

Subaru got his own sword ready and Meili hid behind Julius, Beatrice was still asleep in the carriage, oblivious to all the tension. They kept on walking until they reached a dead end with a door on the edge. "What's this?" It had seven crystal slots, six of which, had crystals placed on its edges, two more seemed to be stuck on the door knobs. Weirdly enough, he felt the door calling to him, almost in a trancing manner.

"Subaru? What do we do?"  
"What else, we open it…"

Subaru walked over to the door and touched the doorknob, just then, the crystal on his neck flew off and fitted right into the seventh slot and the door started to open, Julius preparing for whatever is on the other side, but there was nothing. Subaru went over and looked down, he saw that it was a staircase going downwards, "Guess I'll light it up…" He held his hand out and summoned some purple flames, only, none came out.

"Huh?"

He shook his hand, and chanted, "Authority of Wrath - Infernal Touch!" Nothing, the fires were not coming out. "Invisible Providence!?" No unseen hands went out, "Demonic Rage!" No surge of power, "Spacial Rend…" No rift appeared. He gulped, "Subaru? What wrong, why are you shouting all these things?" It seems he's lost all his authorities for some reason but there's one he can absolutely not lose.

"Re… Return by… De…"

He can't do it, he's not brave enough to find out the truth, his mouth won't move, his whole body is trembling in fear, in an instant, all his powers were stripped off of him. But that means, "Wait!?" He went to check on the door again but found that all the crystals were seemingly gone, including the crystal that housed Satella.

"No… don't tell me…"

He stared down at the staircase fearing for his life, "Subaru?! Oi, what's wrong!" Subaru said while shaking, "This is the place…" He muttered silently, over and over again. "How could I be so stupid…" "Subaru! What do you mean this is the place! Talk damn it!" Subaru grabbed onto Julius's shoulder firmly an stared him in the eye, "Julius… I'm sorry but protect the others for me…"

"Subaru, wait, what are you-"

Without warning, Subaru dashed down through the darkness, not caring the slightest bit about the people behind him, on his mind was just one thing, saving her. Over the span of a few months, she has become a good friend to Subaru, annoying maybe, a little pushy with her love, definitely, but a friend nonetheless, losing a friend like this, because he didn't understand her, unforgivable.

"Ella!"

He reached the bottom and searched around, it was an empty room, much like the one in Echidna's tomb, only he knew there was something here, something watching him.

"Ella! Talk to me, I'll get you out of here!"

He tried touching the walls, trying to see if there any buttons or secret levers to pull but there were none. He tried to go back up the stairs to see if there was something on the door that could've hidden them but it seems like the staircase was blocked by, "Shadows? Oh, fuck no…" Although only barely, he could see the shadows spread over through the room, it was happening again, and of all times, now.

"Not again…"

He summoned a Minya bolt and got it ready, "Please tell me it still works…" He could see the shadowy figure from last time appear through the shadows. Last time it used Emilia to manifest, now it's definitely using Satella, "Please work!" And he plunged the bolt straight through his throat and he laid dead flat on the ground.

The shadow stared at Subaru's lifeless body, and smiled, "Subaru-kun…" It walked over and hugged the dead body, "I finally have you… finally… finally…" It stayed there while the shadows continued to eat away at everything else, "She didn't deserve you… no one does, only me… ONLY ME!" The shadows erupted and the whole ground shook, rocks falling down, and collapsing down in on itself, even people from the capital could feel the shaking.

" **I love you…"** It said it a disgusting voice.

* * *

 **A/N**

Envy is such a yandere…

I feel ashamed of myself… fucking almost one month and no chapter update?! I promised two weeks yet this is what I give you? I'm truly sorry… if yall on Reddit you should know that I make illustrations for stuff, so that's been taking some of my time, then there's me sleeping for 12 hours a day, some sort of Hypersomnia? And I also recently tried out Warframe, hate to say it but I think I'm addicted, even though I got it only yesterday…

I'll try force two chapters within Five days to compensate for the lack of chapters…

Changed Time stillness to Counter cause there'd be problems with EMM if I kept it, so an explanation of Counter?

[Counter]: The User is able to deflect any **ranged** attack completely, the only problem is that whatever the user uses to counter the attack, be it a weapon or their own hand, receives damage equal to the amount it would have received if it hit the attack head-on.

 **Nameless Basscus** **  
** _ **Kudos for yet another wonderful chapter, though, if I may ask… what do you think will come after Arc 6?**_

Well, I'm glad you asked, as far as I and Red have talked about it, we've got Warlocks Arc 4 and 5 ready, Arc 6 is still in the planning stage. Then there's also the Prequel to Warlock of Sin that I'm hoping to complete before Arc 4's ending. After Arc 5 there's a side story, and then it's Arc 6. The ending is clear, though the journey there is kinda blurry, not sure how much Arcs in total…

 **MNR  
** _ **I still think the story is going a bit too fast on the events, though this will be interesting to see… What happens when they pass by the real Satella? I wonder…**_

This isn't working, no matter what I do, I can't slow down the progression, I'm going to have to re-read Remon's chapters on Arc 6 and the summary on the Wiki again… and about what happens to the real Satella… What will happen indeed… I whole rollercoaster ride if you ask me…

So I think I'll just make the chapters cut off at the climax, more cliffhanger means a slower event switch, should make the story go slower… I hope…

After what happened, I can't promise the upload speed sorry... gotta up my game first...


	26. Chapter 24: The Sage, or not the Sage

**Sorry for the false alert again! Really, I'm sorry! This time, I've completely updated arc 1, Chapter 2 to Chapter 7 underwent some extreme changes so go check them out, it'll be relevant for Arc 4!**

* * *

 **Warlock of Sin. Arc 3: Linking the Past and The Present**

 **Chapter 24: The Sage, or not The Sage**

Subaru took a deep breath as he returned back, slowly looking around, shivering a little, he sees that he had been put back to the fork in their path. Now knowing full well which route to take, he snaps out of his fearful state. He looks behind him and sees that he still had his unseen hands out, seems he has regained control over his authorities, he breathes a sigh of relief.

"We're taking the left, better if we go a path we are more aware of… the right one also gives me the chills…" he says to the two in front of him.

Julius nodded while unsheathing his sword while Meili retreated to the carriage where Beatrice was asleep. Subaru prepared himself for battle, his eyes glowing red, his senses heightening. He summons out his Minya blade and got several bolts up.

The door he saw that time, what was it? Whatever it was, he knew the Witch of Envy was there, and that Satella's crystal was the key to opening that door. He's never ever going to bring her near there ever again.

"Let's go…" Julius whispered. They proceeded slowly through the cave, grunting noises were apparent, something was definitely this way, and then suddenly, "KRAAAAAA!" A loud, ear piercing screech blasted through the passageway, shaking the whole cavern as it passed through the group. Subaru looked in front of him while covering his ears and he saw a seven-meter tall monster, with a horn for a head and a mouth that stretched down to its stomach.

"What the fuck is that!?"

The beast ripped out some of its fur and hurled it towards Subaru and Julius, "Subaru, look out!" Julius shoved Subaru out of the way, the burning fireball crashing down on the floor, scorching it, "Julius, a little explanation please?" Subaru said while retreating back to the carriage, "Gabaou, and endemic species in the sand dunes, I didn't expect us to go underground so I forgot to tell you about it!"

It launched another fireball at them, and this time Subaru charged forward, "Counter!" He slammed his blade at it and knocked it right back, but the Gabaou dodged it easily. Once the fireball hit the cave ceiling, it burst into millions of tiny sparks that lit up the surroundings, Subaru's sword, also miraculously disintegrated. "It's that dangerous?"

"That thing has no eyes? How did it dodge it?"  
"They have enhanced hearing so they make use of echolocation"

Julius was next, he rushed forward with his blade ready, the beast used his footsteps to get an idea of where he will strike but disregarded it, instead, it let out another screech which made Julius flinch. Using it's echolocation ability, it was able to pinpoint Julius's location, then it launched another fireball at him, "Invisible Providence!" Subaru reacted quickly and punched through the fireball with an unseen hand.

"Meili, take Beatrice and fall back, we'll deal with this thing first!"

Meili listened to Subaru's instructions and got off the carriage with Beatrice on her back and she fled, Julius got back up and picked up his sword again, "Attacking it head on is dangerous, it's fur is on fire and it's able to stun us with its loud screech…" Julius said while dodging another fireball, "Attacking from a distance is hard as it's able to dodge our ranged attacks easily…"

However they look at it, their opponent has no blind spots, just when the situation seems dire, "Subaru, I have an idea!" He said while slicing through another fireball, the sparks burning bits of his cloak. "Spill the beans then!" Subaru replied back while he fired off his Minya bolts, which the beast evaded with ease.

"Throw me!"  
"You're crazy you know!"

Julius landed beside Subaru, dusting the sparks off his cloak. The beast launched a large fireball at the two, Subaru jumped forward and punched it right back at the beast, "Counter!" the fireball shot back with a curve, but nevertheless, the beast dodged the attack, just then, "Special move, Knight throw!" Subaru summoned an unseen hand and grabbed Julius, with a spin, he launched him straight at the beast at an incredible speed, fast enough that it couldn't react.

"Hiya!"

Julius sliced through the beast's horn with his sword, at the same time, the fireball that Subaru knocked back collided with the ceiling and exploded. Julius landed perfectly while sheathing his sword, the reminded Subaru of something but he couldn't really point it out, just as the beast fell to the ground, Subaru's hand, the one that countered the fireball, burst out in flames.

"AHHH!"

He fell on his back as he clutched onto his burning hand, Julius quickly rushing back to him. He ripped off a bit of his cloak and wrapped Subaru's hand with it, effectively taking out the fire, "God damn that burns!" The two calmed down once all the action subsided. Subaru removed the cloth on his wound and revealed something horrifying. His skin has melted right off, leaving just bare bones as his hands.

The two could only stare at the injury, Subaru with a face of pain and agony, and Julius one of fear and disgust, "Quickly, we have to someone to heal this up quickly, Subaru!" Julius helped Subaru up both about to run off in the other direction, when, "KRAAAH!" Another screech made them fall to the ground.

"It's not dead yet!?" Subaru exclaimed while looking back, and to his astonishment, he saw the beast standing up, regeneration it's lost horn, "You gotta be fucking kidding me!" The beast launched another fireball at the two who were down on the ground, Subaru summoned another a large unseen hand that shielded them from the fireball, but it slowly burned it's way through.

As Subaru summoned more unseen hands to protect them, Julius glanced over to Subaru's injured hand, he was shocked to see that it was growing back, though it was still infected by Capella's dragon veins, though maybe that's the reason it's regrowing in the first place, he thought.

"El-Minya!"

Subaru shot out several Minya bolts, the beast evading again with ease, but they then exploded, each shooting out several small purple spikes in all directions, it stabbed through the beast and it fell on its knees, "Julius, one more time!" Subaru used an unseen hand to grab Julius once more, he gripped onto his sword and was once again launched at the now weakened beast. He was able to stab into the beast's mouth without touching any of it's burning fur.

He then whispered to his spirits, "Please, help me just this once…" To his surprise, his spirits suddenly came out, circling around him as the beast flailed him around, "Then… Phla Illium!" His sword shone brightly and with a burst of light, the beast was torn to shreds from the inside out. Julius fell back, he dropped his sword, and his spirits vanished once more.

"Julius!"

Subaru rushed over to him, and helped him up, "Nice one, I think that did the job…" Subaru looked over to the beast, it's corpse was scattered across the ground, blood and fire was spilled beside it, most definitely dead. "Though I did get to use my spirits, I had to use my own mana to cast that spell, so I won't be able to move for a while… if you would?"

"Very well…"

Subaru helped Julius up and carried him by the shoulder, he breathed a sigh of relief now that it truly was the end. "Meili, you there, we're all done here!" He called out to the back of the cave, the carriage had been burnt up during the battle so they won't be using that anymore. Meili appeared with Beatrice asleep on her back, "It's over?" She asks and the two reply with a nod.

"Now… let's go and-"  
"I've found you…"

Just when Subaru was about to finish his sentence, someone interrupted him. He and Julius turned around, quite alarmed by the unknown voice, they saw a dark figure standing behind the flames, their arms out wide, "Who are you!?" Subaru and Julius asked in unison, Meili rushing to hide behind the two. They were replied by a cheeky giggle, and then suddenly the person's face was revealed, "I've found you, Sensei!"

A woman, about as tall as Subaru stood in front of them, wearing no more than short pants and a bikini top, a ragged cloak attached to her neck, her hair tied into a long braid with beads, ending with a pointed tip. Her overall appearance was that of a matured woman but her smile says otherwise, "S-Sensei?" "Yes!"

Subaru, and pretty much the rest of them were just confused now, "Who's the sensei now?" Subaru asked the woman, "You are of course!" She said with a gleeful smile, now they were even more confused, Julius and Meili glanced over at Subaru, he just looked back with an 'I don't know what she's talking about' look.

"Eh… are you sure you're not mistaken?"  
"Mou, and I waited forever to see you again!"

She said with a pouty face, truly unbefitting of her appearance. "Sensei's so mean, forgetting me like that, even though you're the one who told me to wait…" she faked a few tears while doing a pitiful pose, "Hey Julius, have you met her before?" "No, I'm afraid I haven't Subaru…"

"Mou! Fine, you win! I'll bring you inside…"

She clasped her hands together and their vision suddenly got hazy, the cave floor started to vanish, it turning into a carpet, they could then see stone brick walls appear, an open window, a staircase, and many other things. Once everything cleared up, Subaru and the other three looked around, it seems they were teleported to some kind lounge of sorts.

"Uh… where are we?"

Subaru asked, still confused with the whole ordeal, "We're in the tower silly, the other people you were with are also here, Sensei!" after hearing that, Subaru perked up, "The others are here? Where?" Just then, Emilia came in from the other room, and was surprised to see them, "Subaru, Julius! Are you guys okay" "Emilia-tan!? Ah, thank goodness..."

It seems Emilia was calling everyone to the room Subaru was in. She went in and checked on the two of them, confirming that they were both fine, she sighed, and then gave Subaru a light hug, "I was worried you'd overdo yourself again, I'm glad you nothing too bad happened…" Subaru just fell into the blissful moment while everyone else entered the room.

"Ahem, Natsuki-kun…"  
"Ahhh~ oh, I mean, glad to see you guys alright!"

He straightened himself and looked at everyone else, Wilhelm's clothes were a little tattered and Anastasia seemed to be dusting hers off, "You guys had it rough?" "There were all these bats, and there was also some big beast, it was dark so we couldn't see things clearly…" Subaru walked over to Patrasche and rubbed on her snout.

"So, now that we're all here, shall we get on to the elephant in the room?"

On Anastasia's mark, everyone turned their heads over to the mysterious woman who apparently is their savior, she just looked at Subaru with a childish smile, as if oblivious to all the attention directed at her. "Wait, before we ask for introductions… were you the one who shot down those… light needles at us?"

"Yeap!"  
"Why!?"

"Sensei said to kill any and all things that may harm the tower! But when I smelled Sensei, I knew you were all good so I stopped, was I a good girl?" she said with an innocent face, which eerily made everyone wary of her.

"Uhm… sorry, my memories are a bit fuzzy, could you introduce yourself to everyone…?" Subaru asked the woman. "So Sensei really did forget me… Okay, I'm Shaula, the guardian of the tower! I've been told by Sensei to not let anyone inside the tower"

They made note that she was the 'guardian' and not the 'sage', which instantly made them lose interest in her, "So… Shaula, we've been told there was a sage around here, do you happen to know where he is at the moment? We're kinda in dire need of him right now" She gave Subaru a confused look, and she replied, "You're funny Sensei. Of course, you're the sage!"

"WHAT?!" Everyone exclaimed, "Woah, hold your horses! Calling me your Sensei is one thing, but calling me the sage is a whole other, how did you reach to that conclusion!?" Subaru said, the others started to eye him skeptically. "Sensei smells like Sensei so it should be Sensei, and Sensei is Shaula's master so Sensei is the sage, right?" Shaula answered as if it was the most normal thing to do.

"That's a lot of senseis'…" Subaru grabbed everyone over to the side, "Okay, she's definitely out of her mind!" Subaru whispered to them, "Either that or you really are the sage Subaru, you did lose some of your memories back then didn't you?" Julius questioned, "Well, yeah but come on, the sage is like hundreds of years old! I'm not even a tenth of that yet!" "I believe Subaru, I don't think he could be the sage…"

"Okay, why does Emilia-tan's remark sound like an insult?"  
"Though she could just be mistaken, she did use just smell right?"

After Anastasia's remark, they all looked over to Shaula again, her looking back at them innocently, "So this means that the sage isn't in the tower isn't he?" "Seems like it, Natsuki-kun" Everyone nodded along, "So… should I play along with being 'Sensei'? I mean, I kinda feel bad if she's this convinced…"

"No need to worry, Natsuki-kun, it's a win-win situation"  
"Not everything works on business terms, Anastasia-san…"

They were all finished with their group talk and so they went back to Shaula, "So, since we're here, might as well do what we're supposed to do… okay, Shaula, we need help, you see, there are a bunch of people affected by this kind of curse, an authority to be exact, some lost their memories, some lost their names, and some got turned into flies, we were wondering if you could help us fix them?"

"Hm, hm…" She nodded her head as Subaru finished explaining everything and she replied with brutal honesty, "I don't know how to fix them"

Her straightforward answer bummed everyone out, all that traveling and the person they were looking for didn't have a cure, "Then, do you at least know where we can find out how to get them?" Wilhelm asked her, "Nope, not telling," She said while turning away with a pout on her face, making everyone just a little bit more annoyed.

"Come on, Shaula, please?" Emilia pleaded her, but she was replied with an almost instant, and childish, rebuttal, "Nooope, not telling anyone" she said while turning away even more. Meili tried then, "Please, Onee-chan…" she used her sad puppy eyes to her advantage, "Aww, cute…" but it was for naught, "But still nope"

"Now, now there, I'm sure we can all reach some sort of conclusion through ne-"  
"Nope"  
"Aw, come on now, I haven't ev-"  
"Nope!"

"She's a really rude one, isn't she? I wonder how the sage handled her…" She whispered to Julius and Subaru, "Hey Shaula?" "Yes, I'll tell Sensei!" She replied instantly to the sound of his voice. It overwhelmed everyone, it even made Subaru doubt his very being.

"The tower is made of seven layers, the bottom layer Asterope was the cave you were all in, the ground floor fifth layer is called Celaeno, it's the one we are in right now, the fourth layer Alcyone is above, the third layer Taygeta holds the library of the deceased, the second layer Electra holds, and the first layer called Maia. The zero layer is called Merope, and there you can ask anything you want!"

"Okay…" Subaru feels like he could recall something about those names, they indeed sound very familiar to him. "Mhn…" The moaning sound alerted everyone and they turned over and saw Beatrice waking up, "Ah, Beako, thank god you're awake…" Subaru proceeded to pat his spirit in the head and pick her up.

"Sensei, who's she…" Shaula asked Subaru, all the while being very wary of Beatrice, "This is Beatrice, she's my contracted spirit, please get along with her, okay?"

"Beatrice… Beatrice… Beatr- nope, never heard of her"

After having her name being repeated several times, Beatrice opened up her eyelids and saw Shaula staring at her, in a jealous sort of way. "Mmph…" She disregarded her and went back to a comfortable position in Subaru's embrace, closing her eyes yet again. "Right then... let's talk about this tower?"

* * *

 **A/N**

I'm sorry, this, and the past few chapters, were so darn half assed, I want to kill myself for even thinking this was good enough… Red, never, and I mean never ever let Shaula leave the watchtower, her conversations are too hard to write, please!

Also, Chapter 2, the one where they first go to Subaru's world, has been rewritten, it has a new character and around 700 more words than the original chapter, go check it out!

I'll try harder next time...


	27. Interlude 2: Witch's Revival

**Warlock of Sin. Arc 3: Linking the Past and The Present**

 **Interlude: Witch's Revival**

[A Few months ago, shortly after the events at Sanctuary]

"..."

Birds... The chirping of birds, so calming, they mixed in with the crackling of the fire and gave the atmosphere of a campfire, is what the girl thought, "Nostalgic isn't it… but of course, I'm not talking about what I'm hearing… I'm talking about the fact that I can hear" she said while looking at the crystal on her hand, it reflected off the light from the fire, and the souls of the other five witches shimmered.

"Mmmh, Sekhmet is as bored as always, isn't she? Cut me some slack would you, I'm finally outside after four hundred years…"

The girl, pink hair, long ears, and a white robe, there is no doubt about it physically, the girl is Lewes, "The little girl has done well to serve as my vessel. After so many failed attempts… all I needed to do was wait a few hundred years. From the Witch four hundred years ago, I thank you for your service… though, as I am right now, I am merely a projection of her withered emotions…" The snow around the fire melted, the lush green grass showed itself.

"But even if I'm just withered emotions… being alive is ecstatic…"

Snow, not natural snow, this was artificially summoned snow, in other words, she is at Sanctuary, in the Kermaldy forest, "Though I hate to admit it… she did a good job in completing the trials and undoing the algorithm…" The wind blew, the leaves rustled and a path opened up, a way through the forest had revealed itself, the little girl sighs as she lifts her feet off the ground.

"It's time to get going then…"

Throwing a pile of snow to put out the fire, she walked onwards, through the cold snow covered ground.

.

It took a few minutes of walking, but she managed to leave the forest intact, her feet were cold and her body was stiff, she would light another fire but that might attract attention. She shivers a little as she finally leaves the forest, the crystal on her hand glows, "Oh be quiet Daphne, as you are right now, you couldn't eat even if I wanted to give you something…" Irritated by the voice of her fellow witches, she stuffed the crystal into her pocket.

"Right… where to now? I don't really have any place to…"

She heard muttering, no, it was talking, and she saw light, people were coming her way, she has to move before she's found out, "No… they've already found me, it seems…" She hears footsteps, from all around, she was surrounded.

"Look at that… an elf… from the looks of her ears, it seems she's half as well"

Five men surrounded her, all well equipped with armor and weapons, they looked like mercenaries, "..." the girl just stared at them, with a face of indifference, "Don't act like you don't know what's going on, we're taking you with us, your head will catch a good price to some noble out there, whether you want to end this quick or not, your choice…"

One of the men unsheathed his blade and pointed it at her throat, his eyes not showing any mercy. The girl sighs, and takes a step back, "Alright then… if you all manage to put up with me for… thirty seconds, then you may have me, how's that?" She declared, calmly, and rather confident.

The man spat on the ground, "Give me your best shot" he put the blade to her neck, and kept it there, she smiled, "Very well…" The next moment, the girl's body fell down, limp, is she dead? No, she isn't dead, she's just not alive, "W-What? Some sort of trick or some-"

"I feel a little bit more comfortable like this, if you don't mind that is…"

Behind the girl, a light appeared, a white light that evolved into the shape of a woman, snow white hair, black eyes, a bewitching sight, "Let us start then shall we?" The moment her feet touched the ground, an unimaginable amount of pressure was exerted in the area, this crazy force invaded the men's consciousness, some of them fell down, some of them screamed in pain, one of them even banged their head with their own weapon.

"Ten…"

The clawed at the dirt, they clawed at themselves, they clawed at each other, blood everywhere, screaming everywhere, and suddenly, one of them died of madness, he lay limp on the ground, all that was left of his eyes were the whites, and his mouth was drooling out saliva.

"Twenty…"

They started attacking each other, crying out incomprehensible words. Swords impaled through their flesh, daggers gouged out their eyes, fire being lit on the ground, insanity, this was the definition of it.

"Thirty…"

And it was all over in an instant, every single one of the men had died, out of craziness, madness, insanity, this woman, this woman was no ordinary woman. She turned back to light and re-entered Lewes's body, her eyes opened up once more and she picked her body off of the ground. The crystal in her pocket glowed once more.

"I didn't touch them, so you can't hold me accountable for anything Typhon dear… and no, they did deserve that so your not going to touch them either Minerva, people like them, they should just be left dead, no matter how much sympathy you gave them..."

She scavenged the men for their equipment, scarfs, money, tools, everything, she then lit up the corpses on fire, letting them decompose into dust, this woman was mad, she's gone past the point of insanity, this woman was, "Echidna… how nice of it to see you once more… have you been well?"

Another figure appeared in front of Echidna, platinum hair, a skin akin to a goddess's, she was stunning, so stunning, just looking at her would make one go crazy, her name was, "Pandora…" She muttered, narrowing her eyes on the sight of the platinum-haired beauty.

"No small talk, please… get right to the point…"  
"Straightforward as always aren't you… Dona…"

A smile appeared on the woman's face, a smile so sweet it held nothing sinister, not a glimmer of evil at all, that's what the ordinary person would see, but not Echidna, having seen through this facade several times in the past, she can easily tell, that she is plotting something as they speak. "I was thinking of having a cup of tea and chat a little while you know…? But I guess you're going to rush this like you always do…"

She smiled at Echidna, her small figure shuddered, this woman was unpredictable, unimaginable, she existed, yet she doesn't, she's there, yet she isn't, a mysterious figure and incomprehensible figure, that is what Pandora was, even to Echidna, who was the incarnate of green, "Well, since your always rushing things, might as well make this hasty. I'd like you to come with me, Dona"

"Then, state one good reason I should go along?"  
"Hmm, wouldn't just coming along with an old friend be enough?"  
"Surely, you jest?"

Though her facial expression didn't change, it's obvious she's gotten a serious, "My my, feisty as ever? Well, I never expected you to do it wholeheartedly, I'll have to do some convincing…" She disappeared, and reappeared behind her, placing her hand on Echidna's shoulder, "You do want to see 'him' again… don't you?"

"The dead can't be brought back to life, it's just an impossibility, but even if you did manage such an outrageous thing, he wouldn't be the same person I used to know, so there's nothing in it for me…"

A sorrowed look was plastered on Pandora's face, as if feeling a little bad for having her say that, though that facade broke down almost instantly with a giggle, "My dear Dona… I never once said we're bringing him back from the dead, it's as you said, that's an impossibility… rather than that, what if I say… he's been alive all this time?"

A surge of emotions welled up the moment she said that, it was a conglomeration but she was definitely mad, extremely. In the blink of an eye, her whole body lit up on fire, burning everything besides her, including Pandora, "I saw him die with my own eyes… if your going to come in and say saw everything I saw that day was fake, then you best just leave"

Burning to a crisp, Pandora's body crippled into dust, picked up by the wind and lifted into the air, but that never happened? "That's not like you Dona… losing your composure so easily" She clenched her fist, anger, fury, wrath, emotions are swirling within her. "He was eaten alive, swallowed by 'her' shadows, how is he alive? Tell me?"

"Hmmm, how about you come along with me… then I tell you?"

The crystal in her pocket glowed brightly, as if trying to attract her attention, "This is personal matters, I won't let you interfere…" Echidna said, wrapping it in a black cloud. "Go on…"

Seeing that she was rather compliant, Pandora clasped her hands, "Good good, as expected of Dona, always so soft when it comes to love~" A thing blade of wind severed her head, if flopped on the ground lifeless, or so it seems, "Oh my, did I step on a landmine?"

"Enough already, I'll come with you alright? Now tell me…"  
"Aww, it's no fun if you just accept me like that… I wanted to see your grieved filled face once more… but this makes things quicker"

"Conrad is alive, more accurately, his soul still resides in the realm of the living, it left it's body and is currently hibernating in the body of the sage, just waiting to be awakened. As he is now, he is almost in a coma-like state, he doesn't feel time while it moves on, unlike everything else, four hundred years for him will go by in a flash"

"What do you mean when you said the body of the sage?"  
"Don't play dumb Dona, you know exactly what I'm talking about…"

"..." Silence, she was silent, taken aback, speechless, something that wasn't a normal occurrence, "I don't like this… I don't like this one bit…" she muttered out, "To think that… 'she' is so close to him, it disgusts me…"

"Now now, your overthinking things Dona, let's have a calming chat over some tea why don't we?"

"After that, we'll pay 'him' a visit…"

* * *

 **Sand and dust up in the air.  
A tower looming far in the distance.  
Two figures stood in the desert.  
A new threat is born.**

* * *

 **A/N**

GOD DAMN BACK YALLL!

How long has it been? Five months? It took five months I think? Indeed, it's been five months! All that just to rewrite a few chapters, I'm never doing that again, never ever! It'll take some time but i'll be back to "Five to two weeks" of update speed in no time!


	28. Chapter 25: The first trial

**Warlock of Sin. Arc 3: Linking the Past and The Present**

 **Chapter 25: The first trial**

Finely polished stone walls, decorated with banners, shelves, and other furniture, this definitely wasn't the kind of tower they were all expecting, "Did you manage this tower all by yourself, Shaula?" Subaru asked the naive young woman, "Mhmm, is Sensei proud of Shaula?" Replying with a brimming smile, Subaru couldn't really wrap his head around the fact that she's the guardian of the tower.

"I guess…? If she were to compete with Rem, it'd be a close battle… I think..."

Subaru had Shaula show them around the place, not that there was anywhere to go to, "If Sensei wants to enter the other rooms, you have to complete the watchtower's trials first" According to Shaula, there were three trials in the tower, it reminded Subaru of the trials at Sanctuary, but they were different. In here, the trials don't happen in some dreamscape, they're all happening in real-time and in the real world.

"So each new floor we go to has a new trial?"  
"Yes, after the first trial, it's a library, after that is the second trial, then it's a library, after that it's the third trial, and then"

"Another library?"  
"Wrooong, that's a secret, hehe"

It became clear to everyone that the only way their going to get through this is if they participate and clear these trials, Subaru audibly sighs while the image of a certain someone popped up in his mind, "Well we don't have time for this so I say we just go in and beat the shit out of the trials, what do you think, Emilia?" "Of course, Rem and everyone else is waiting for us aren't they? We can't let them down" Subaru and Emilia rushed on forward confidently, with Shaula leading them the way.

"Subaru, we should proceed with caution, we don't know anything about these 'trials', for all we know, they could be deadly. We should take our time to thoroughly gather information before partaking in them, I think that's the best course of action" A rather sound explanation by Julius, but this is Subaru we're talking about, such an explanation isn't enough to change his mind.

"Don't worry Julius. Me and Emilia have some experience with these kinds of things. They shouldn't be too far off from what I think they are, even if it is, I'm sure with all of us here, we can easily finish the trials" Reaching the end of the hallway, Shaula leads the group over to a fleet of stairs made of dusty stone, "What's that?"

At the top of the staircase, Subaru could faintly see a slithering object. He was suddenly on guard but he sensed no hostility from it, Shaula also didn't seem to pay any attention to it, that calmed him down. They all continued to venture up until they could see the door to the next room, "Green…" Subaru entered the room first and what he saw was something akin to a forest, or vineyard, one with rather large vines.

"What's this place?" Emilia asked, prompting Shaula to reply, "Alcyone, the fourth layer" "Well… I know that much, but what is this room used for perhaps?" Putting a finger to her chin, Shaula thinks for a while, though she shrugs it off later, "I dunno, never used the room before" The only word that can describe this girl was an utter disappointment.

"Hmm?"

Subaru felt a tingling sensation down in his concealed hand, "Woah, it's healing back?!" After revealing the burnt arm stained with Capella's black blood, everyone looked on in shock, "Subaru! What happened to your hand?!" "Ah, yeah, it got burnt when we had to fight this headless mabeast, it doesn't really hurt anymore and it healed quickly, I think it's because of Capella's dragon veins but the pain has been minimized…" Subaru gave Emilia a guilty look, not telling her about this would most definitely make her mad.

"Geez, there you are being reckless again, tell me earlier next time…"

Grabbing Subaru's burnt hand, Emilia started to heal it, and it was rather quick, most likely due to the effects of the room, they were in, "This plant… it appears that it's a spirit…" Julius said out loud, everyone heard it and was surprised, "Well that explains the movement from before… so this thing is a spirit that heals everyone in the room? It is healing everyone, right? Or is it just me?"

"No, I'm feeling its effects too, Natsuki-kun, we can safely say that this is like a recovery room of sorts"

Perhaps so, but this isn't the room they were looking for, what they were looking for was the trial room. "So the first trial, where exactly is it supposed to be? Do we have to go one more level up?" She shakes her head and points towards a door in the edge of the room, it was concealed a bit with roots but they were able to make it out, "The trial starts over there, let's goo!"

"So noisy, I suppose!" As Shaula dashed over to the door, Beatrice spat out in annoyance, it seems she's fully awake now, "Rise and shine, Beako-san, we're now entering the trial room" Giving a cranky look to the rather energetic woman, Beatrice climbed down from Subaru, and dusted herself off,  
"What did I miss, I suppose?"

"Not much, just an explanation of the tower and this room, apparently, this plant thing is a large spirit that's healing us"

"So nothing of importance, I suppose…"

Shaula opened up the door and they all walked inside the room, there was one thing that caught their eye out of everything, or rather, it was the only thing they were able to see in the room, a ginormous silver monolith looming in the center of the room. "..." It floated just above the ground, magic was most definitely present here, whatever the trials are, it has to do something with this monolith.

While they were staring at the monolith, Shaula patted the ground and sat herself down, "Wait, how can room like this exist?!" Subaru exclaimed, not really believing what he's seeing, "Indeed… getting enough white paint to cover this whole room when you're this far away from society, it's really crazy ya know? And you gotta do maintenance too, seeing that white paints also expensive…"

"Anastasia-san, I don't think that's the problem here! The problem is how the hell is this humungous room fitting in the tower?!"  
"Oh… yes, I can see that as a problem indeed…"

Indeed, the room itself seemed to be about twice the size of the watchtower in terms of width, and it was most definitely tall as well, they can't see the top, most probably because it was all white, "This room is so big it's rather unnerving… So Shaula? How do we start the trial?" Subaru asked as he ventured into the blank room, gazing at the large monolith in the center.

"I have no idea, Sensei was the one who made it, so Sensei should know how to work it right?"  
"How many times am I gonna say it, I'm not your Sensei... well, whatever it is, this monolith is undoubtedly related to the trial…"

Subaru approaches the gargantuan structure as it stayed eerily afloat on the white floor, "Maybe if I…" He placed his hand on the monolith and a sudden immense pressure exploded out from it, a voice appeared, **"Choose the brightest hero that Shaula has slain"** And the next moment, it disappeared, along with the giant monolith.

"...!"

As the central monolith disappeared, several miniature ones just popped into existence, though much smaller, they were still rather large. Everyone was on guard, everyone but Shaula that is, "..." As everyone was on high alert, looking at the structures suspiciously, Shaula sat down on the ground and just waited. Seeing that the woman was not at all worried, Subaru dropped his guard as well.

"Choose the brightest hero that Shaula has slain… I think that's what they said, right Emilia?"  
"Mhmm, I heard it to Subaru, so there's only one thing we should do now…"

The two glanced over at Shaula, who looked back at them with a curious smile, "Shaula?" "Yes, Sensei!" An instantaneous reply from her, it could make one flinch when they hear it, "Tell us the brightest hero that you have slain" "I don't know anyone I've slain!" Another quick reply and it was obvious that they aren't getting anywhere with her.

"Welp, was worth a try, ok guys, let's do this the old fashioned way, random choosing"  
"Wait, Subaru, I don't think that's a good idea…"

Ignoring Julius's words, Subaru went over to the nearest monolith and placed his hand on it, "..." surprisingly, nothing happened, it seems like he's taken the wrong one, "Sensei, no random guessing, that's breaking the rules!" Shaula said, and it seems like she was really serious about this, things just got a little bit harder.

"Okay then… how many monoliths are there? Around twenty or so? We can't choose randomly so we have to make some kind of connection…"

Stepping back from the monolith, he grouped back with everyone, "So, anyone have any idea about what this thing is exactly?" What was in front of them was merely an arrangement of large pillars floating on the ground from the ground, it would be impossible to find out what this is without getting a clear picture of it all. Anastasia thought of something, "What if it's tryin to reference somethin? Like some sort of structure?"

"Yes, that is a possibility indeed, but what could it be?"  
"We'll never know if we stay down here, let's get up to higher grounds"

Summoning purple crystal platforms, Subaru made a staircase of sorts, they were like stepping stones that went high up. Everyone climbed up and sat down at the highest platform, in fear that they may fall off, "Two things we need to know, we're looking for something bright, and a hero that Shaula has slain… do you guys know anything about that?"

"The only hero's we are familiar with are the ones from Lugnica, and I haven't heard any that have tried to venture into the sand dunes, except for Reinhard that is, but he is well and alive so that puts him out of the picture… "

"Kararagi doesn't have any 'heroes', and even if we did, they aren't foolish enough to enter the sand dunes, there ain't any profit in doing so… that leaves them out too. Gusteko and Vollachia, that is most likely where our answer lies…"

Vollachia is an empire with many strong warriors, it wouldn't be wrong to think that one of them could have entered into Lugnica to conquer the tower, but such an event would be known to the public, as far as they are all concerned, no hero has ever died in the sand dunes, "Seriously…" Beatrice huffed in annoyance, "This is what happens when you let such narrow-minded people take on this task, I suppose…"

"If you have something to say Beako, I'd like for you to say it, please. Berating us won't exactly bring us anywhere…"  
"This tower was not recent, as such, we can also assume that the trials were also created long ago, so let me ask you, why are you looking at the present, I wonder?"

It took a second but they all realized, Subaru mentally facepalmed himself for being rather ignorant, "With our minimal knowledge of the past, it'd be impossible for us to do this trial!" The answer most likely lies in something that has happened centuries ago, that is the only valid explanation there is, but with the current group, they stand no chance against the trials.

"Everything suddenly got hopeless, huh… but, maybe we're looking into it too hard. What if it wasn't literal, maybe it's something figurative?"

Emilia tried to add something to the table, and it got everyone thinking, yes, that could be a possibility, then something snapped, "Of course! How could Betty miss this!" Beatrice jumped up and went over to the edge of the crystal platform, she gazed at the monoliths for a while and smiles, "Yes, this is exactly what I think it is…"

Tracing her hands between the monoliths from a distance, Beatrice lets out a rather proud sigh, the other however still didn't get anything, "Umm, Beako, mind telling us what you've found out?" Turning around with a smug look, she points to Subaru and states, "These monoliths represent a constellation, the Orion constellation, I suppose!"

"..!"

Subaru gave her a surprised look as if saying 'why didn't I think of that' and he replied with, "That's my Beako! Now… care to explain what this Orion constellation thingy is?" She spat out in disbelief, she has forgotten about Subaru's partial amnesia and is cursing herself so, "Betty feels like a lowly creature for forgetting things so easily, I suppose… To put it simply, it's what you call a connection of stars. You can see them in Subaru's hometown, I suppose, they also have names, you and your sister told me about that, in fact"

"You're bringing that up again, can't you tell me where my hometown is? It'd be easier if you tell us right?"  
"Even if you say that, Betty isn't sure where your hometown is, it's a matter of 'it's there but not at the same time', I suppose"  
"W-What?"

"My reason exactly, seriously, it can't be helped then…" She faces the monoliths once more and pointed her hand at one of the three in the center and moves her eye downwards to find one lone monolith in the bottom right, "Rigel, the brightest star in the Orion constellation… Betty chooses that one" With the others still in confusion, she hops down the platforms and makes her way to that single monolith, they all followed suit.

"Beako, are you sure about that? What if something happens if you get it wrong?"  
"Subaru has already proved that nothing happens, I suppose, and when was Betty ever wrong"

Stretching out her hands, she tapped on the monolith and waited for a while, it suddenly glowed and everything shattered, "..." Nothing else happened, no more monoliths can be seen, no door appeared, the room was as same as ever, "Well… Hey Shaula, we completed the trials right?" Calling out to her, she replies with a strong nod and gets off, and quietly leaves the room, "Hey?! Don't just leave us here!"

With her abrupt leave, everyone was in a state of confusion, did they really complete the trial or not? That question was left in their minds as they chased after Shaula...

* * *

"Both of them are here, how much worse can it get…"  
"Calm down dear… we might get caught"

The two witches stood in the corner of the library, skimming through the books for something, "It's not here…" The one with white hair muttered, "Indeed… and thus proves me correct, he is alive and well, okay, maybe not well but he's alive at least… and he's just a floor away…" Putting her hands on her shoulders, with a smile that makes it feel like she's mocking her, the witch clenches her fist.

"I get it already, so stop dangling the carrot"  
"Dear, don't misunderstand, I'm only giving you encouragement…"

Clicking her tongue, the witch faced the other way, her expression faltering, this feeling of grief, this longing feeling, she hates it, she despises it, yet she has to cope with it, just for a little while, "Found it…" Taking up a book from one of the countless bookshelves, "I'll be taking this if you wouldn't mind…" With a book in her hand, the two walked away, disappearing into the library of a thousand books...

* * *

 **A/N**

Chapters may be shorter as I want to make them relevant to the title, too many words means more events and harder to make chapter titles you see… but then that means faster chapter uploads yes? Win-win scenario, so let's go with that...

 **Slydino**

 **Wonderful story. I really like the idea of introducing Satella to the mix to spice things up. Anyway, great job and keep up the good work. Can't wait for the next chapter.**

Thanks a lot, Satella's always been depicted rather antagonistically in most fanfictions, by completing this story, I hope to change that.

 **Spookysharma**

 **OMG man! This fanfiction can't be called a fanfiction at all. It's literally like reading a different tale. You know kinda like the What If? Chapters of the web novel Re:Zero. You are really awesome. And please keep the chapters coming. I am really hooked into this one. I beg you to continue writing more.**

Oh dear, I feel like I've been given more praise than I deserve, but Thanks nonetheless! I'm feeling pumped now!


	29. Chapter 26: Library of the Dead

**Warlock of Sin. Arc 3: Linking the Past and The Present**

 **Chapter 26: Library of the dead**

"Oi! Shaula! Don't run off like that! Wait for us!"

She dashed straight pass the room and into the staircase, everyone ran to catch up with her as they descended the stairs"..." Reaching the bottom of the stairs, she rushed over to the center of the room, suddenly silent, they all caught up and looked over to her, she was suspicious, what could have happened to get her this worked up, "Shaula…?"

"..."

It seems like she was expecting something, no, more like she's aware of something, "If somethin's wrong, then spit it, we don't have all day, ya know?" Anastasia said, Shaula didn't give a reply, not even bothering to turn her head towards the group, "My, how rude…" She didn't even react to the insult, it seems she was dead serious about this.

Subaru walks up to her and puts his hand on her shoulder, "Shaula, if it's that serious, then tell us already would you?" giving her a few moments of thought, she suddenly jerked her neck towards Subaru, "Sensei… why are you so tensed, hehe, you looked soo worked up, is something wrong?" With a smile brimming on her face, the seriousness from just a moment ago, vanished.

"Haah… should've expected nothing less from you. No, tell us, is something wrong with the tower? Was there like, a malfunction, or a thing that didn't turn out as it was supposed to?"

"Nope, not at all~"

Every single one of them let out an audible sigh, the extent to which this woman can disappoint them, it seems to be boundless, "It seems we won't be going anywhere near our goal if we are to rely on-" "Ah, Sensei was wondering why I ran out like that, right?" Cutting off Julius's words like a knife through butter, she has no sense of respect whatsoever, to think that she was the sage's apprentice, it was rather nerve-racking.

"Uh, yeah, we were wondering why you ran off like that, and right after we completed the trail too"  
"I just felt like someone was loitering around in the tower, but it turns out it was just my imagination, haha"

Hearing the that there could have been a possible breach into the tower, it caught everyone's attention, "Uh, Shaula, I just want to ask, is there anyone else, uh… living, in this tower besides you?" Emilia questioned the woman, and surprisingly, she replied, with words, "As far as I know, I'm the only one! The one and only Shaula, hehe"

"Is it unusual to get visitors?"  
"Hmm? I don't let visitors in though"

A slight chill ran through Subaru's back, this line can't really be interpreted any way other than 'I kill anyone who gets close', she's like a guard dog in the shape of a mature woman but kicked up to the extreme, "Okay… well moving on, we've done the first trial, we should be able to go over to the first library right?" With Subaru steering the conversation back on track, everyone stayed silent, waiting for a reply.

"Yes, you can now go over to the library next!"  
"Great! Now… which way do we go?"  
"I don't know at all!"

"..."

"As I was saying, at this rate, we aren't going anywhere if we're going to continue to rely on her"  
"That's clear as day Julius, stop stating the obvious!"

* * *

With Shaula's help proving to be rather unhelpful, the others searched for a way to get to this 'library', they went back up to the green room, and even investigated the trial room again and again, yet, there really doesn't seem to be any way that leads upwards, that was until they all happened to stumble upon an undiscovered room, "Uh… this room wasn't here the last time we checked right?"

Subaru asked as he opened up a door that they had mysteriously found alone in one of the corners of the room, there was also a staircase going upwards inside said room, "It seems like it had appeared when we've completed the first trial… well, that should be as expected" With everyone nodding along to Julius's remark, they continued on with their journey.

"Onwards and upwards, as they say"

Subaru takes the first step, the staircase seemed rather large, it was a spiraling one with no railings, one deep drop here and it's most likely over for any of them, better be careful, "Man there really should be a better way to traverse heights…" "You do know you have the power to do such, I suppose?" Beatrice peeked from beside his shoulder.

"Beatrice, that's just being ignorant. What if this place is trapped? It's not like I can't take an arrowhead on but it's going to hurt nonetheless, or what if the room was filled with poisonous gas, or if a giant boulder rolls over and turns us into mashed potatoes"

"Haha, Sensei is funny, there aren't any booby traps in the tower, the only booby trap here is Shaula! If you do something bad, I'll squish you into mashed potatoes, hahaha"

"This woman... is seriously creeping me out, Emilia-tan, please bless me with a lap pillow after we're done climbing these stairs!"  
"I would love to Subaru, but we're in a rush right now, so I won't let you indulge in a lap pillow just yet"

"Hmm, not yet? So then if we finish things up quickly, I can get a lap pillow!"

"You are acting rather brazen Subaru, is that really how a knight is supposed to act?"  
"Now you shut it, Julius, your just jealous since you don't have the capacity to love someone like I do"  
"Even I can get hurt by words too, Subaru…"  
"Really now? I didn't think you had a heart to begin with..."

As the two continue throwing insults at each other, time passed by and they had reached the top of the staircase, a hallway with a single lone door stood in their way, "So, through there should be the first library right?" "Yes, it _should_ _be_ " Shaula replied, with how much she's emphasizing 'should be', they fear she has no idea what she's talking about, but once Subaru opened up the door, all their worries were dispelled.

"So it really is a library…"

They all stared inside, it was a rather large library, much larger than the Beatrice's own, it was unlike any they've ever seen, "Okay… with all these books here, I'm kinda curious to find out what's inside…" They all walked in, nothing out of the ordinary happened, no librarian popped in to greet them, no alarm was set off, it just seemed like an ordinary library.

"Noah Libertas… I think that's a guys name… or a girl, either way, it's definitely a name..."

The first book Subaru dragged out, that was the title of that book, the title of the book didn't ring a bell, but it had this ominous feeling to it, he couldn't tell what it was though, "Okay, let's see…" He opened up the book and stared into its contents, "Oh god… it's complete and utter gibberish!" Scanning through the book quickly, he can conclude confidently that he can't read anything from it.

"Well, that was a waste of time…"

Putting the book back into the bookshelf, Subaru turns over to everyone else, who have each taken a book to read, it doesn't seem like it's going good though, "Libre Fermi" "Cathedra" "Essie" "Eligius" All of them were names, no doubt about it, you'd expect something like that to be some sort of biography of the person, but all they say was gibberish, "Just like a gospel…"

Subaru uttered those words but the possibility of such a thing was low, this could just be an ancient forgotten text of sorts, no, these texts were in the alphabet, he knows how to pronounce them, it's more like they've all been jumbled up and scrambled, the only other possibility is encrypted message, could a person have done that for all these books though, "Shaula, you've been here for a while right? Can you read anything in these books?"

"Nope, they all look like garbish to me, like a little baby has written them, it really doesn't look good"

Took the words right out of everyone's mouth, "Well, it doesn't seem like this library holds that much significance, we might as well look around and see if we can find something useful…" Everyone agreed with Subaru's idea, and so they went on to search around the library.

The library was extremely large, it was large enough that it could encompass a whole market area if you removed all the bookshelves, it was not something one person can clear by themselves, luckily, there were a lot of them and although they won't be able to even dream of checking all the books in the library, they can at least look around for clues on how to advance to the next level.

"Huh…?"

A book dropped beside Subaru, it was rather small compared to some of the others, though it was still plenty large. He picked it up and the moment his eyes met the title, he gasped, "Typhon!?" Indeed, there was no mistake about it, the title of the book indeed spelled out 'Typhon', in other words, the Witch of Pride, the one that he had met in Echidna's tomb, the one that died centuries ago, "What is her book doing here…"

Now that you think about it, it would be weird if this place didn't have information about the happenings in the past, this is a monument widely known for its historical background, "So inside this… has something to do with Typhon…" This piqued his curiosity, he had to know, he wanted to know, and so, he opened up the book…

* * *

–A child, there existed a single child.

She was still young, no doubt about it, she was indeed a child. Coarse clothes on a thin body, green hair with a dark skin burnt by the sun, a child of that age, it felt right to call her a child, but her heart was dominated by unending unrest.

"..."

It continued to bother her, she was anxious about it, perpetual, looping, never-ending… it was that thought, good and evil, what are they? Correct, wrong, righteous, sinful, justice, malice, honesty, hostility, they plagued her mind, day in, day out.

–There are an innumerable amount of actions being done around the world, and at the end of the day, they'd have to be categorized into one of those two.

For the child who couldn't find the answer she was seeking for, there was a reason to continue worrying about it. It was inevitable, indeed it was. The one who divides the woman's world into white and black, good and evil, good cause and evil cause, these two, was the woman's own father.

The woman's father beheaded the heads of the sinners, and his work was to give appropriate punishments for their crimes. To give appropriate punishment, to the sinner who committed the crime, to decide whether their actions were indeed evil, to give an end to those lives was her father's work.

"Executioner"

That was what the woman said after seeing her father executing and the execution facility, since a young age. A brutal act, cruel deeds acted upon the living attendants, the execution place was dominated by blood and death.

— the fact that the woman continued to see "death", was not her own will but her father's instead.

There will be a punishment for the crime committed, evil is rewarded with a bad fruit. The father tried to tell the child about the existence of good and evil in the world, and to believe in himself as an executioner. The father's intention was of good will and must have had been backed by a noble thought.

However, considering she was a child, it was solitary and it was too early to expect ideals from her. The child saw several deaths, smelled the scent of blood, and the burnt ashes of the sinner that had to be punished.

As a result of that, the woman studied the significance of life and appropriate punishment for sins before learning about the theory of death.

Good causes produce good deeds, evil causes cause evil, the sinner's' souls are defiled in accordance with their punishment.

Understanding her father's teachings, the woman wanted a way to "punish sins". She asked for what could be a guide on as to what balanced as good and what defined unfavorable evil.

"..."

However, the balance the woman was looking for did not exist in the area she was looking for it. There is no simple answer as to what is good or evil, what is right or wrong, sins and punishments depended upon several factors.

"Good and evil?"

One day, the child met a woman, the woman was kind, she was pretty, she had a beautiful voice, her skin was soft and silky, she didn't seem like a bad person, so the child asked her the question that has been plaguing her mind.

"It's easy, isn't it? What's good is good, what's evil is evil, ah, but doing something bad, doesn't exactly make it evil you know?"

What the woman said, it was contradictory to what she had learned from when she was with her father, how can evil and bad not be the same thing? Evil is bad, whenever you do something bad, it's evil, there's no way around it, it's just impossible-

"Like see, if you accidentally broke something your parents really loved, they'd be angry wouldn't they?"

Of course, they would, if something precious were to be taken away from you, of course, you'd be angry at them, why wouldn't you, they've done something bad, they should be punished, they're evil, they-

"But you see, if you break it accidentally, then it doesn't mean you were evil"

-Something shook in the child's heart.

"If you apologize to them, then they'll most definitely forgive you. Even if they are mad at you, if you apologize, they won't think of you as a criminal, they'll understand that it was an accident and forgive you…"

-Something snapped in her heart.

"Doing something evil… it all depends on your heart, wanting to do something bad, intentionally doing something that hurts others… I think that's evil. Something bad done purely because you wanted it to happen... "

-I see

"Evil is something that your heart decides…"

-It makes sense

-So much sense

-Sense

-Heart

-Feelings

-Judgment

"I see… thanks, Ella Nee-chan, Typhon understands a bunch~ of things now!"

.

"SUBARU!"

A strong smack to the face, that was what he felt, before his body fell straight to the ground, "Uhw… w-what?" Looking around, Subaru could see that he was in the library, his eyes were quivering, the feeling, an ominous feeling, he felt weirdly weak, just what had happened, what did he see?

"Subaru! Are you okay, talk to me!"  
"I… Her… ah… yeah, yeah I'm okay, It's alright-"

Getting back on his feet with the help of Emilia, Subaru collects his thoughts, "Typhon…" The name echoes in his mind, back and forth, that was undoubtedly Typhon's memories, her life, that was definitely what he saw, that was definitely what they were, memories, memories of another person. It's starting to make sense now, this is a place that houses records of memories.

"It makes sense…"  
"Subaru?"  
"Emilia, let's find the others, I think I got something…"

* * *

A/N

1 Year! It's been a whole year since me and Red had started writing Warlock! We've had 7 productive months, and 5 months where I was at a complete standstill, note to self, and a tip for any writers out there, new or old, when you look back at your work and say "Oh god, I need to rewrite this, it's so cringy" Don't do that, it's only going to end up worse than your current situation, it's bad for both you, and your readers…

Okay, so sadly, I haven't anything special planned except for artwork I guess. If the site works with me, I'll have an imgur link in my bio for it, if not, then I'll try post it on my Illustration page, either way, the cover's going to change to said illustration, I've made two, one I made a month ago, and a new recent one (the new cover) hope you guys will check it out!

 **Yuki Megi**

 **Welp, I've returned to the Re:Zero fandom, after spending like 2 weeks no only getting around to watching MHA, but also being trapped in the MHA fandom. Dear god, I'm still stuck on MinaDeku.**

 **Onto the actual review, I liked this chap. While we didn't seem to learn much more about Shaula, we did get some progression and more interaction between the characters. And I'm missing Satella, like she instantly became best girl when I started reading this fic. Really hoping they get her back in gear.**

 **Other then that I don't have much to say. I really need to get back into the flow of reviewing Re:Zero. Seeya!**

MHA is indeed a rather nice series, though I can't say I am really invested enough to ship characters… Shaula is an interesting character indeed, but writing that character down is so damn hard, I don't if I just don't like her or if I don't understand her personality, but she's not easy to write, don't expect to learn too much on Shaula, you won't get any till say next arc when Ella is hopefully back… I say hopefully because of reasons...

 **MNR-AMR**

 **Well Ello there! As for the story, I do agree with Spooky, it's more it's own than anything else... Much like Roger's magnificent works in the DC universe!**

 **It's been a while since I proper logged in... Expect the rewrites to be done in about a week, maybe two. Ciao!**

In order to avoid pulling a Ringo, I'm gonna take that compliment to heart, thanks a lot! I feel like Red's not really getting much credit though, he kinda made up like 75% of the whole plot (except for this arc, which is why it's such a pain in the ass!)


	30. Chapter 27: Books of the Dead

**Warlock of Sin. Arc 3: Linking the Past and The Present**

 **Chapter 27: Books of the Dead**

"Subaru?"  
"It's alright, I think I've got this place all figured out…"

Emilia lead the way through the sea of bookshelves, Subaru had just returned from 'reading' one of the books, and it was a rather bewildering experience if anything, "This library houses books about people, the book tells about their respective lives, but there's a catch…" They turned a corner and over in the distance, they can see Anastasia shaking Julius's shoulders, Meili was there too.

"Snap out of it, Julius!"

She shoved the book off his hands, and he starts blinking, "Huh…" It seems Julius has experienced the book, just as Subaru did, "Julius, the book, what did it show you" Subaru asked as he reached the second group, Julius took some time to recollect his thoughts and then turned over to Subaru, "Yes… the book" His gaze shifts back to the book, he picked it back up and showed them all the cover.

"Balroy Temegrif…"

A name neither of them were familiar with, "The book showed you his memories, right? As if it was a replaying of their life, like being put inside his body?" Julius nodded, surprised by the accuracy of what Subaru had told him, "Yes, it's exactly as you say…" Julius had a rather downtrodden look hanging on his face afterwards, prompting Subaru to grab the book from his hand, "Let me see…"

"Wait, Subaru"

Not listening to him, Subaru opened up the book, only to see it filled with more random assortments of words and letters, a let down indeed, "Weird, I can't seem to read this one… Julius, what did you see when you read the book?" Julius didn't seem like he would enjoy answering that question, but with everyone staring at him like that, there was no other choice, "Balroy Temegrif was one of the nine god general's of the Volachian empire, I saw only bits of his life, but they seem to be the more impactful ones, it's like a summary of all his big achievements and what not… all until the moment of his death"

"I see… Julius… could you have perhaps, known him before he died?"

Julius twitched as he was asked the question, he seemed even more reluctant to answer that one, "Come on, it's a simple question, either yes or no… let's not keep secrets here, we've got no time to waste" WIth Subaru urging him on, he sighed, yielding, "Indeed, I did know him… I am one who killed him after all…" shock surged across the room.

"You killed him?"

"It happened around a year ago, Reinhard, me and Ferris headed over to Volachia to handle some business, but some complications occurred which lead to a battle between us, sadly, I had to take his life. The whole ordeal was the result of a misunderstanding caused by a third party which we were able to capture, later on, he was a warrior who fought until the end, so I don't think he had any regrets dying, but I still feel like it could have all been avoided…"

"Conversation landmine, sorry for asking…"  
"No, it's alright, you were bound to know about it anyway"

With this newly acquired knowledge, Subaru was able to draw out two conclusions, "This library, it's filled to the brim with books of deceased people, I can be sure of that, and the only way you can read them is by having a close connection to said, deceased person… that's what I think" The others nodded their heads, it didn't seem farfetched at all, "Subaru, did you happen to read a book?" Julius asked out of curiosity"

"Yeah, in fact, I did. I read Typhon's book, she was the Witch of Pride"

The sudden mention of a witch got everyone gasping, with Anastasia questioning the obvious, "Witch of Pride? Natsuki-kun, if your theory begs true, then you can't mean to tell us..." she didn't even need to finish her sentence, the question was undoubtedly simple, "How do I know about Typhon, you're all thinking in your minds huh? Well, probably not Emilia"

"No, I'm curious as well Subaru, I only saw Sekhmet, Echidna, and one more that wouldn't show her face, I haven't met Typhon either, so I'm curious…" With Emilia stating more absurd things, the others were slowly beginning to back away, "C-Calm down you two, do ya understand what you're implying?!" Anastasia who can just barely grasp the situation stated in a jittery voice.

"Huh? Okay, let's settle it right here right now, the two of us, have met the witches from four hundred years ago, personally…"  
"That's right Anastasia-san, we've met them, though Subaru met more than me somehow, and I don't know why…"

It was a little bit too much information to take in for the two of them, well, it was less the amount of information and more the absurdity of it, "Typhon was the witch of pride at the time, she was a little girl, green hair, about this high, she likes asking people if their innocent or not and then test it out by ripping out their limbs to see if their in pain, normal witch stuff"

"Subaru, you do understand you're telling us you've met a person who's been dead four centuries… right?"  
"Yes, I understand that's what I'm doing, though it's gotta be confusing for you guys…"  
"Well then please explain before a misunderstanding occurs…"

"Geez, alright… you see, after the whole thing with the whale and Betelgeuse, we went back to Roswaal's place, but he went hiding in this village, and so we had to go get him, but then we encountered and some problems, yadda yadda, there was a tomb, we entered it, the souls of the witches, we talked, there were trials, we finished them, and then more things happened, and in the end, they're no longer here, right Emilia?"

"Ahuh, I don't think they're there anymore, I'm not too sure how magic algorithms work…"

The quick summary was able to calm them down a bit, the thought of witches wouldn't be weird to cause panic, they do have a rather bad reputation thanks to a certain someone, "Who else has met these witches?" Julius enquired, and Subaru replied, "I think the only other would be Garfiel, right Emilia?" "I don't think anyone else did the trials…"

No longer able to take it, Anastasia lets out a big sigh, "Y'all have been getting into all sorts of things without us, now have ya…? Well, in short, Natsuki-kun has read a book as well, that's how ya came to those conclusions right?" Subaru nodded, the connection was an easy one to make, and it was a believable one.

"But what does that help us with Onii-san? Books are just books right?" Meili inquired, and she was absolutely correct, knowing what these books are won't exactly help them find a way to the next trial room, they've to be looking for stairs, "For now, let's just keep walking around, don't just carelessly read into the book you hear?"

They all understood and split off to find something that would be of use, while Subaru slipped away from sight to the same location that he had read Typhon's book, "If your book was here… then the others must be close by- Well, well, looks like I've already found another one…" He took out another book from the bookshelf, it was considerably bigger than Typhon's book, and if it wasn't obvious by that, the title had a different name, "Minerva…"

"The witch of wrath, one that punches victims to good health… really, you're the most paradoxical one of the bunch…" Having said that, Subaru nervously opens up the cover of the book, his mind then started to fade, as his consciousness gets sucked into the book, once again…

* * *

— There once was a woman.

She was rather emotional, always crying, always in pain, always grieving and lamenting. This woman was surrounded by conflicts, fights, arguments, scrambles, and more, she blamed herself for these, for being able to forgive them, for being unable to stop anything.

No matter how many times she raised her voice, no matter how many people she caught hold of, her sorrow was endless, and her frustration did not meet its end. That's why the woman cursed her destiny.

After cursing, cursing, cursing, and cursing her destiny, the woman noticed. She noticed something she had been oblivious to all this time "Crying changes nothing, it's useless, even if I cry for eternity, nothing will change…" After noticing that, the next thing the woman wanted was just pure strength.

To have the power to punish, the power to overwhelm, that was what the woman wanted. She pushed herself to her limit, struggled as much as her body could possibly struggle, all to gain the power she had a wished for.

What was needed, was not the power to hurt, that's not what she wishes for. It was a power that would take away other people's power, such a thing, didn't make sense to the people of this world.

She wished for such overwhelming strength that nobody could compete with. She believed that that would stop the fighting. An end to the suffering she's had to live with, the woman kept shedding tears as she wished for a power that would stop her from crying.

A battle where two sides of power collide, it's those kinds of fights where the weak have no say in.

But her voice, her wish was never heard, it didn't come true whatsoever. Keeping the lamentation aside, despair covers the sky as it darkens. Why, are you hurting others? Why should you live happily while others live in pain? Why, why, why, don't you ever think that there could be another way?

"Children are crying. Old people are crying. Men are crying. Women are crying. Everyone is crying. Why—!"

To put an end to that, she wanted strength, she needed strength, and so she trained herself, withstood any pain and pushed through with her will of steel.

To eventually stop the conflicts that have been mocking her day in, day out, the woman will reach through. She will reach for her desired power, an overwhelming strength that pretty much nobody would be able to keep up with.

The woman, standing on the battlefield, screams loudly to stop the fighting.

Scooping all the power with her force, she crushed all the lamentation with force, beat down every malice that had power, and her tears stopped flowing.

She beats the ones who were holding swords, kicks the ones that relied on using magic, crushed the things that struck with fangs, and crushed everything that was seeking a fight.

However, the more the woman resists, the stronger the ones with the swords, magic, and fangs get.

It is like a spiral, a spiral of conflict, it kept growing, bigger and bigger, until the woman was no longer seen, everyone just continued with their fights, ignoring the woman, as if she had never existed.

Other than the powerful competing forces, nobody individually knows the answer. So nobody knows that there are other ways than fighting and winning.

"How come—!"

She didn't stop it, she had failed, it didn't work at all, she thought to herself. In the end, wasn't she just feeding the violence? Wasn't she just making matters even worse? Wasn't she just being violent, just like the rest? Then, was she any different than them?

Lowering her blood-wet fist, the woman returned, and while looking at the sky painted in blood, she cried out. The fights cannot be stopped. All the hard work and effort was in vain, and the tears of ego do not stop flowing.

Finally, desperation enters the chest of the woman, who was running endlessly.

Tears flowed, they overflowed, to the point where they could fill up an ocean's worth of water. These were not tears of warmth, these were the cold tears of helplessness and disappointment, all aimed at herself.

But as those tears fell down, there was another emotion that sprang up.

The crying woman does know the identity of this feeling. Knowing just the name of that emotion, the woman now begins to understand the begging of that feeling. It was not because of sadness that she cried. She was just mad at herself.

The name of this feeling, it is what people call rage — no, this is what people call "Wrath".

To those who compel to shed tears, to those who do not stop fighting, to those whose lives surely meet an unexpected end someday.

— Have a taste of my fist.

"Hey…"

One day, the woman kept on weeping was called out to.

"Is something the matter? Crying isn't really good for you, you know?"

She jerks her head up to see the beautiful voice, a woman with glimmering silver hair entered her gaze, she wore just a simple dress, but nevertheless, she looked majestic, her outstretched hands reached out for the crying woman.

"W-Who… who are you?"

The woman asks while wiping away her trickling tears.

"Me? Hmm, I guess I'm just a passing half-elf, my name is Satella, nice to meet you…"

The two got to know each other, talked about themselves for a bit, until the woman told her about all her endeavors, about what's troubling her deep inside, about all she's done, and about how she's failed, miserably.

"Isn't that a little weird though…?"  
"Huh?"

"I know there's a saying like 'fighting fire with fire'... but I never understood it, if you fight conflict with more conflict, it just grows bigger right? So it'd be pointless if you go about it that way…"

Something clicked inside the woman, like a whole area she was previously oblivious to, had been lit up by this person.

"Instead of using fire to beat fire, you should use water right? Then, instead of hating people and fighting, why not show some kindness and help them, heal them maybe, something like that… or at least, that'd be the thing I'd do if I were in your position…"

It suddenly made sense.

Wrath...

Anger...

Pain…

Those were the things that tormented her to no end, it was what stopped her from achieving what she wanted, what she had yearned for the entire time, what she needed.

Happiness…

Kindness…

Peace…

The next day, she jumps into the midst of the people who were still fighting, beats their face, threw them off each other and shouts.

"Stop the fighting! Take a look at the sky, listen to the wind, smell the flowers, and live with your families and lovers."

With the woman's voice, for the first time, tremors ran through the battlefield. She shook the hearts of everyone in the battefield Fists that could send a crack through the earth, kicks that could roar through the sky, were instead used to change peoples hearts.

The wounds get blocked, the screams become silent, the knees get healed due to warmth, and there was no longer any meaning in left in the battle.

The tears of the people stopped. People wanted to thank the woman. Raising their voice, waving their hands, they laugh. But then, they notice that woman was already gone.

Of course.

The woman still has something she needs to do. She does not have the time to look back, there was no reason for her to stop her one is crying, no one is fighting, nothing is robbed away, she sought such a world.

Running, running, continuing her running, the woman continues to shake her fist. Until all tears are stopped. Until the warm streams of droplets on her cheeks stop.

— "The Witch of Wrath" burned with a raging, swelling heart, and kept on running.

* * *

"..."

Subaru returned back from book, having seen part of Minerva's life, it took a heavy toll on his body, he felt rather tired, as if he'd been sitting down for hours on end, though that couldn't possibly have been the case, someone would have tried to find him by then, "Hmm, I guess you weren't all that bad those four hundred years ago, guess you can't judge a book by its cover…"

Placing the book back, Subaru gets up to find the others, all the while glancing down on the purple crystal on his chest, grabbing it and bringing it over to his face, he calls out to it, "Hey… you alright there?" No reply, he was worried, this isn't her being ignorant and stubborn, it doesn't feel like a thing she'd do, though he's one to talk, only knowing her for a month at most.

"Don't worry, we'll clear this tower soon so you can get out, you better be happy, can't stand a pouting witch… So sit tight and wait in that crystal of yours..."

Whatever is keeping her inside there, no, there's no question about 'what' is keeping her trapped inside the crystal, it's already clear to Subaru that this is the work of her other self, "The Witch of Envy… I'm not sure what she's doing with you, but rest assured, I'll get you back…" Letting the crystal swing back down, he pockets his hands, searching for everyone else.

* * *

A/N

Heh, I've been getting into chess recently, it's a nice game now that I know the in's and out's of things, but it's a little frustrating when I get played by those higher ranking players, always 20 steps ahead of me… We're closing in on the most important part of the arc, well, still may be a few more chapters before the big thing happens, but we'll get there sooner or later, though, I'd like it to happen sooner...

 **Spooky Sharma**

 **I am so relieved to read this fanfiction because I have the knack of completing every book or web novel that I began and the translations of the original web novel of re-zero are not updated in perfect sequence, they are a little haphazardly written and when I tried to read the web novel via Google translate, the words made much less sense than a child's babbling would. So I sincerely thank you for presenting these chapters. And I am really missing Satella. I have read enough fanfics of Rem and although the girl whom I literally adore is Ram, it was your fanfic that made me care for Satella. Otherwise formerly because her involvement in the storyline was ambiguous, I hated her as much as I hated Emilia. But this story made me realize that sometimes you should look at the whole ring instead of cursing a side of it.**

Your welcome, since I help out with translations, I get bits of things that don't get mentioned in the Wikia summary of Arc 6 and Arc 5, so I try to include those itty bitty things, then again, I'm a rather forgetful person and I bend the facts to better execute the plot of the story…

And yes! You understand it don't you? Satella isn't all that bad, when was the last time she's done something bad just for the sake of being bad? Anyway, I really want more stories that go past Arc 3, we don't have a lot of that, so I'm a little stumped, but at least new WN chapters have been pumped out recently!

Ah, but I do miss writing Ella... sometimes I wish i could just skip over to the parts i want to write about...


	31. Chapter 28: The Second Trial

**Warlock of Sin. Arc 3: Linking the Past and The Present**

 **Chapter 28** **: The second trial**

He kept on wandering around the library, he couldn't find anyone, he couldn't sense anyone, perhaps they had gone to search elsewhere he had thought? "Emilia! Julius! Beatrice! Anyone here!" His voice echoed through the library, but there was no direct reply, someone did call out to him though, from the staircase it seems.

He ran over to see who answered his call and after peering down, he saw Anastasia waving to come over, and so he did, "So, did you find anything new?" "Indeed we did, we managed to snuff out something from Shaula. Apparently, there are five rules that she's been keeping from us" It only reinforced her air of uselessness even further, but if she knows stuff, then it's better to get it out of her before things go south.

"What are those rules?"

"Rule number one, if anyone were to leave the tower before reaching the second library, she'll kill them, rule number two, if there was ever someone who broke a rule during the trials, then they'll be killed as well, rule number three, no one is allowed to damage the tower itself, the trial rooms, however, are different, it seems the 'tower' is only limited to the bricks on the wall and some other fundamental structuring of the tower, this could possibly mean that it encompasses the magic that surges inside. Rule number four, disrespecting the library is also forbidden and appropriate action will be taken when it happens…"

"Rule number five?"

"There was none, or at least, that's what she claimed, I, however, think otherwise. That last one is important, the rules themselves could be clues, the person who made this tower, the sage, he isn't just another human, he's a sage for a reason, he had the idea of hiding the truth of the first trial in the place where you lived in, a place, not even you yourself can describe clearly when you told us about it"

"My home was really that remote? Must be a lonely place…"  
"Quite the opposite, your spirit said it was quite populous"

Once again, the gap in Subaru's memories proved to be troublesome yet again, if only he had them, maybe all of this would have been easier to solve, "Ah sorry, Natsuki-kun, we have also found the way to the next room" Hearing news that pushes this forward, Subaru nods, "Then, let's not waste any more time" The two hurried over as Anastasia showed him the way, they went straight back to the green room, with the vine spirit doing its work.

"So there you all are..."  
"Ah, Subaru's here"

They all showed him what they found, pushing away the thick vines from the wall, they uncovered a door, one that wasn't present the last time he was here, "Did it appear out of nowhere, like the stairs to the library?" They nodded, it seems in order to progress, you have to travel to each floor in order, from bottom to top, you can't skip any, the tower makes sure of that by making the doors appear only after the previous floor was explored.

"Guess I kept you guys waiting, huh? Then, let's go straight ahead…" Subaru now leading the group into the room, they had to climb up more stairs, it seems these went up much higher than the one to the Library of the Dead, it means that this is definitely bringing them up to the next floor, "The trial room should be through there…"

A big metallic door stood in front of them, it looked rather heavy. Julius and Subaru both used up all their might to shove it open, and once they did, they tumbled forward into, yet another white room, "Haah, so… I guess all the trials are gonna all take place in some white room huh?" with both of them getting back on their feet, they all looked around.

"It definitely has the same feelin as the other trial room, empty and large… except for that sword in the middle…" Anastasia pointed over to the only thing in the room, a shining sword stuck in the ground, "..." They were compelled to go ahead and take the sword, but they decided not to, Subaru turned back and looked as Shaula.

"Shaula, what are the rules for this trial?"  
"There are none for this one"  
"None at all?"  
"None, sensei"

With reassurance from the useless watchtower guard dog, Subaru and Julius went forward to check on it, telling everyone else to keep a distance behind them in case something unexpected happened, "Ignorant fools who approach the heavenly sword, plead for forgiveness…" A voice ringed into their minds, they were all on guard, but nothing happened, it was probably just like last time, they'll have to wait until something happens.

"Ignorant fools who approaches the heavenly sword, plead for forgiveness…"

"It repeated? Guess we have to pick up the sword for anything to happen…" With that in mind, Subaru walked forward and grabbed the hilt of the sword, using all his might, he jerked the sword out of the ground, it wasn't a particularly special sword, but it had this feeling that Subaru couldn't describe, just then.

"Ignorant fools who approaches the heavenly sword, plead for forgiveness…"

They heard that line again, but this time, from a different voice, no, it was from a completely different person, they can tell, because that person was standing right in front of them now, "Stay back, who are-" "Ignorant fools who approaches the heavenly sword, plead for forgiveness…" the person, the man, repeated, his back was facing the group, he wore red, his hair was red too, he was also rather tall. This man, he repeated those words once again, only louder.

"Ignorant fools who approaches the heavenly sword, plead for forgiveness…!"

"W-what does he mean?"

"Ignorant fools who approaches the heavenly sword, plead for forgiveness… Ignorant fools who approaches the heavenly sword, plead for forgiveness… Ignorant fools who approaches the heavenly sword, plead for forgiveness… Ignorant fools plead for forgiveness! Ignorant fools plead for forgiveness! Ignorant fools plead for forgiveness! Ignorant fools plead for forgiveness! Plead! Plead! Plead! Plead! Plead!"

" **HYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"**

After the bombardment of words that could barely reach their ears, the man in red screams out, an ear-shattering scream that could blow up one's eardrums. Subaru and the rest, closed their ears shut, trying their best not to get any permanent hearing damage. Shaula, who squealed in fear, grabbed onto Subaru's legs, cowering before the screaming man, "AAAAAAAhhhh… haaah..." The man stopped his screaming, he was now looking around, still not facing the group behind, perhaps he's unaware of their presence.

Subaru dropped the sword to the ground when Shaula grabbed his legs, speaking of which, it seems she's fainted. Back to the sword, Julius picked it up and pointed it to the man, "Name yourself…" The man's ear twitched when Julius called out to him, he finally looked back and gazed at the group.

"Ei, who're you?"

The man who Julius had questioned, answered with another question, he asked for their names instead, "I am Julius Jukuulius, proud knight of Anastasia hoshin, I am the kingdom's sword, the greatest knight, Julius!" He gripped onto his sword, and pointed it more seriously at the man, "Now, name yourself…" He asked once again, in a more stern voice.

The man yawned, "Quite the flashy name ya got there, I don't do titles, so you can just call me the stick swinger, it's a pretty nice name if I do say so myself" The man looked around some more before clicking his tongue, "So we're in the white room huh? This looks really boring, okay then… your purple head, you there are angry eyes, the one in your legs is hottie-chan, the one behind you is cute hottie-chan, and the one with the weird scarf… guess your just cutie-chan, then there's chibi one and chibi two…" He named everyone while waving a pair of chopsticks in the air, he was rather rude, wasn't he?

There were a few moments of silence as the man looked at each of them intently, then after getting bored with that, "Hey purple head, you said you were a knight right? Then you've gotta have some skill with the sword, if you wanna get me to talk, why don't you all try to move me, it's okay, even an inch is enough, what do you say?"

Julius narrowed his eyes and threw the sword that was previously stuck in the ground towards the man in red, though, he jumped up and kicked it back, rejecting it, "I've already got my weapon here" clicking his chopsticks over at Julius, as if provoking him, but as the knight, he's got to keep his cool, "Very well then" Julius placed the sword down the ground and unsheathed his own sword, readying his stance.

Julius rushed forward with his sword, preparing a slash from above, the man who named himself 'the stick swinger' just smirked as this fatal strike was coming closer and closer, "Hyaa-" But before the strike could reach him though, he had already effortlessly stopped him, as if it was nothing, "Hey now, ya gotta put your butt into that, otherwise it's just another little shrimpy poke"

The man, using his chopsticks, threw the sword out of his reach, then proceeded to poke Julius endlessly, with no way of defending, he was unable to do anything against the flurry of attacks from the man, in no time, blood was already leaking through his clothes, Julius was simply overpowered, "Ghu!" But as he was being pushed back, he was able to grab the sword he placed on the ground and before the man could make another attack, he parried it with insane speed, all the while, trying to retreat.

"Hoho, not half bad, purple head!"

Not having quite enough fun just yet, the man decided to lunge straight for him, seeing that his strikes won't be fast enough to make it even with him approaching, he focused on blocking the attacks, and it was working for him, going with the flow of the battle, he was able to tell where the chopsticks were going to strike and then he'd block it, it worked, but only for a little while.

"Blocking, blocking, blocking! I'll just break your sword if that's what you want!"

The man slammed his foot on the ground, causing it to quake. Julius lost his balance and his front was completely opened, "Ya can't do nothing about this one!" He palm-thrusted Julius in the chest, a shockwave erupting from the sheer force. He was blasted all the way back, he rolled on the floor and stopped beside where Anastasia was, "Julius!"

"Ah, that wasn't a bad warm up, wasn't the kind I'd ask for, but can't be greedy about that… now, since Purple head is gone, who's next?" Looking at the rest who had faces of utter shock, he waited, "Well I'd rather not, but we need to get the hell out of here so we've got no choice it seems…" A purple sword appearing on his hand, he steps forward, Emilia did as well.

"Stick swinger, you said it was okay if we moved you an inch right? Didn't you move more than an inch from where you started?" Emilia questioned the red-haired man, he shook his head, then thought for a bit, "Doesn't count, ya gotta push me ya see, but since we're going two on one, I'll raise it to two meters or somethin"

"Enough already, let's just push him down on his feet, Emilia-tan"

"So now it's angry eye's and cute hottie-chan's turn, alright come on, bring it…"

Particulates of ice started to form around Emilia, she clasped her hands together and chanted, "Icicle brand arts!" A chilly gust of air surged across the room, the stage had been set. The sword Subaru had on his sword, slowly covered itself in dark shadows, a way to reinforce his strikes, if a steel blade won't do it, then his would just break on impact.

"Let's go!"

With Subaru leaping above him, Emilia equipped a sword from below and prepared to strike, "Eat my randomized hits!" Subaru strikes his sword downwards, the man did the same move he did to Julius, catching the blade with his chopsticks, "Demonic rage…" and with that, his eyes glow a scarlet red, he used his blade as a pivot to bring his body in close, he curled his fist in for a punch straight to the face.

"So boring, move faster won't ya?" Before Subaru's fist could reach his face, he grabbed onto it, without really moving much, "I'm not the one you should worry about…" With Subaru occupying his top side, his bottom is left defenseless, and in comes Emilia, who slashes with her blade of ice, "Sloooow, none of you are excited at all!" He let go of Subaru's sword and shifted over to grab a hold of Emilia's, it was locked in place, but Emilia immediately let go of it and proceeded to kick him at his feet, "Youch!"

He let go of Subaru, kicked both their blades back while grabbing onto his feet, "Ya like playin dirty don't ya!" Subaru rushed in with his sword once more, he swung multiple times, but he easily deflected the hits with his arms, "This is like swatting a fly! So annoyin" He stuck his foot on the ground and punched straight through Subaru's sword. He then grabs ahold of his collar and gives him a strong kick to the gut, "Agh!"

"Byeee!"

And next, he was thrown all the way across the room, even farther than where Julius was palm-thrusted, "Subaru!" Beatrice rushed to his aid, trying to ease his wound in the gut. Emilia however, didn't stop, she kept on going, "Icicle line!" Stepping her foot on the ground, she freezes the air around her, an array of weapons came to her need, she grabs the closest one, a throwing dagger and lobs it straight for the man.

"Ohoo, that's shiny, but it's also weak!"

He simply head-butted it and it shattered to pieces, Emilia was able to get up close and bring down a large hammer to his head, but his chopsticks stopped it from reaching, he snickered as he said her struggle to move the hammer away, but she just let it go and continued to attack, "Hya! Hya! Hya!" She used a katana, it broke, she tried replicated Sirius's chains, they broke, using claws of eyes, they broke.

"You're just wastin all your toys, cute hottie-chan"

She formed gauntlets of ice and aimed a punched for his chest, but he countered it with a punch of his own, not only shattering the gauntlet but pushing her back as well, but she didn't give up, she leaped into the air, and with her other hand, she tried to give him another punch, he simply did the same, but this time, just before Emilia was pushed back, she was able to give him a nice kick in the face while her boots were covered in thick ice. "Aaaargh, that's cold, darn!"

Slamming his foot on the ground once more, she was forcefully thrown into the air, "Sorry but you're annoyin too" He sends her off with a strong kick, a powerful one, she wasn't able to block so it hurt beyond compare, "Augh!" she fell to the ground hard, she was even knocked out unconscious. "Emilia!" Subaru who was all the way in the back, called out to her, no reaction whatsoever, she's in danger.

"That can't be, all right? You were doing good"

The man took a big leap, at this rate, Emilia's going to get gravely injured, he can't let that happen, he can't! "E-Emilia!" Subaru forces himself up but with his gut still aching, he slouches back to the ground, "Move body!" He forced himself up again, but it was no use, he couldn't get up, 'Someone, someone! Help her!' he screamed internally, he was helpless, he couldn't do anything.

"...!"

His body suddenly twitched, "H-Huh?" He felt someone grabbing his hands, he felt someone moving his legs, he felt someone, no, it was himself, he was moving by himself, as if he's memorized these movements, as if they're ingrained on his memory, right, memory, he remembers doing these moves, somewhere, sometime, "Spacial Rend!"

His very being disappeared just then, and suddenly reappeared in front of him, his eyes were flaring up bright orange, this emotion, it was wrath, "Have a taste of my fist!" He unconsciously decided to scream out, he remembers screaming out those words before, but, were they really his words.

"Back already? Then sho-"

As if he has founded new strength, Subaru punched him square in the face with incredible speed, "W-What?!" The man was launched straight down, but he grinned, "Now we're talkin!" Subaru's body tingled, it surprised everyone, the usual Subaru would have never been able to pull that off, "People are hurt…" he murmured to himself again, he didn't even know why he's saying it.

He was gone once again, the moment the man's feet touched the ground, Subaru reappeared once again, this time, he swung his feet and slammed it against the man's back, "Hurts!" He then teleported above him and gave him a good punch to the face. The man who tried to recover from the attacks was given no chance to recover, Subaru kicked him in the shin, slammed his fist down his head, and tackled him down, "You're gettin better angry eyes!"

The man kicked Subaru up the air, as if the flurry of attacks he was just subject to did nothing to him, "Come here!" Subaru kicked at the air with enough power that he launched himself down, bringing his fist down with immense speed, and the man replied with his own, "Woohoo!" A shockwave, one that let out a crack into the air was made, the pressure made Subaru's own hand wrinkle, but he didn't stand down, he stuck his feet on the ground and tried to punch with his other hand, but nevertheless, the result was the same.

"And you're gone!"

While their fists were locked, the man kicked Subaru in the gut once more, and then aimed at his head, he wanted to put his hand to his stomach to ease his pain, but his hand moved against his will, it blocked the punch, and his feet scuttled forward, trying to punch the man once more, "Ya don't give up don't ya" As he dodges Subaru's punches, he goes in for a headbutt which caused Subaru to fall over to the ground.

"I'm not done yet!" He grabs him by the collar and lifts him up, only to slam him down once again, "Whatcha gonna do about this huh!" He continues to slam him, up and down and up and down, "Aaargh!' Subaru grabs onto his hand and swings his body upside down, giving him a kick to the chin, "Haaah! Haagh ugh…" He fell to the ground head first, he wanted to give up, the pain was too much, but, his body, his body moved against his own will, why? Emilia is already a far enough distance that she is no longer in danger, so why does he continue to fight this meaningless battle.

Wrath…

It was because of wrath, hateful, spiteful, burning wrath, it fuels his body, his body will no longer listen to him, it will continue to move as so, no matter what, all because of wrath, "Aaaagh!" He runs forward to punch him in the chest, but it was easily caught by his fist, and his hand was crushed, "Baby hands, hehe" He swallowed his screams of agony, his body won't allow it, the rage, the wrath was greater than the pain!

But it wasn't his wrath…

Subaru would never be this wrathful, even if he were to be this wrathful, he'd succumb to his own weakness and sob, crying, he is a weak, good for nothing human after all, he couldn't do it, even with all this anger, he doesn't have the power to monopolize this wrath, and so, it wasn't his wrath, from the moment he had activated spacial rend, it was no longer Subaru the man was fighting. Subaru would never be capable of moving like that, it was impossible, he knew it himself, right now, this isn't Subaru, this was...

Wrath...

Minerva…

This was Minerva…

She won't forgive this, he's hurt them more than he has to, he's just doing this to appease his own boredom, finding pleasure in conflict, no forgiveness shall be given to him, she won't forgive this man. Subaru, no, Minerva stood up, she raised her fist towards the man, who smiled in response, "You're sturdy, I like that!" They continued to fight, it was a one-sided battle, it was obvious who was winning, the man simply overpowered all of them, even if they were to all somehow start fighting like lifetime warriors it would be impossible.

Anastasia watched on, Beatrice watched on, Meili watched on, fear all dyed in their eyes, they were no doubt next on his dish, they couldn't do anything about it unless they ran for it, Julius looked on as well, frustrated, his body won't listen to him, the man's strike had pulverised his body from moving, he has to fight, he has to fight, fight, fight!

"...!"

Now, Julius felt something churning in his body, his hands shook, he stared on at the battle frustrated at himself, his mouth quivered and he whispers, "T-That's… my prey…" Not even he understood why he said it, his eyes turned animalistic, he couldn't move his body according to what he wanted, but it still moved nonetheless, then suddenly, he felt an emotion he's never experienced, this new feeling, it's barbaric, bloodlust.

Julius grabs his sword as his breath starts to get ragged, he wasn't thinking at all now, he was no longer Julius, whoever this was, he was a battle freak with a thirst for blood, and once he's set his on his prey, he won't budge until that prey is hunted down, he was no longer Julius, he was-

"Ju… Julius…"

"Damn… yo-"

Hearing his voice, the voice of the only person who remembers him, he suddenly stopped shaking, his eyes were normal once again, but, he still wanted blood, he still wanted to fight, he, "Hel… God damn… Help me already!" The voice screamed in his head, his mind snapped back into reality, and he gripped his sword, "Subaru!"

As the man's fist was about to close in on Subaru, who was on his last breathe, Julius's blade made contact with it, and it suddenly shone a bright blinding white, "W-What the?!" Not even Julius knew where this surge of energy came from, but he had a sense of familiarity with it, it wasn't a power of his own, but he felt like it was his, "Hiyaaaah!" The sword suddenly shattered and a surge of energy escaped into the atmosphere, blasting the man back far.

"Aaaugh!"

Julius felt a sharp pain in his hands as he lets go of the sword, but there was no time for that, he quickly grabs Subaru who was in the brink of collapse, and made a run for it, Anastasia helped Beatrice carry Shaula and Emilia who were both unconscious while Meili opened up the door for them, they all retreated back down, leaving the man in red all alone in the room.

"..."

He was silent, as he stared on, he saw the trial's sword on the ground, and so he walked towards it and picked it up, he then placed it back on it's original position, "Maaaan, they suddenly leave after gettin me all fired up? Such an awkward atmosphere they left, ain't it… and they coulda just asked, I'd let em go, were they that scared? Heh, being strongest in the world… comes with prices, haha…

They left so abruptly that the man doesn't know what to do know, "But still… it angry eyes… it felt like two people in one… oh well, it's not like I was serious, felt like fighting a tinee tiny ant, heh..."

The man vanished as the door to the trial rooms closed shut, awaiting to be opened up again...

* * *

A/N

Woohoo, okay, I'm fired up, was that exciting? The two of them suddenly going berserk with power and all? I'm sure you've caught the gist of what's happening right? If you didn't, well… guess I'll just explain what happened in the next chapter, let's hope I keep up this pace, the chapter after this is where the good part starts...

 **Spooky Sharma**

 **The chapter was short but no complaints, it was great. I like the kind of writer you are, ready to publish a short and perfect chapter rather than a long and mediocre one. I don't think you will believe it but I began to write Re-Zero fanfiction after reading your stories. Still it sometimes makes me jealous of you, you are an incredible writer and have wrote so many chapters, and you do have one trick up your sleeves that most of us fanfiction writers don't; you write absolutely good dialogues. I think I understand why you take so long to publish a chapter, because the dialogues you write deserve praise. I myself have tried so many times to replicate cannon speech of Subaru but he always becomes out of character in my fanfiction**

[Guilt pangs] Though, I do agree, character dialogue is my kind of thing, despite me not being much of a talker IRL. Weird how the guy who doesn't talk knows how to make talking sound right in text, well, maybe it's just because I'm a good listener, though, that's only due to the fact that I have literally no idea how to insert myself into a deep conversation unless I got the info to do so…

I was also inspired by certain people over here, and also by the many reviews, they really get my gears going, well, I started a year ago so there's that, but I still have a ways to go if I'm gonna be as good as the people in the big leagues, i'm pumped up now!


	32. Chapter 29: In your head

**Warlock of Sin. Arc 3: Linking the Past and The Present**

 **Chapter 29: In your head**

Subaru's head was shaking, he could feel pain surging all around his body, though he also felt a warm feeling wash over his body, healing magic, it was a familiar feeling, "W-What… happened?" Opening his eyes just barely, he coughs out the blood stuck in his throat, "S-Subaru! Stay down, I suppose, you're still injured…" Beatrice, it seems she was the one taking care of Subaru, a worrisome look was on her face as she gazed at the wounded Subaru.

"Is Emilia… okay?"  
"Yes, she's fine, I suppose"  
"Good to know…"

His head was getting clearer and clearer by the second, the authority of lust seems to be increasing the speed of regeneration, just what he needed, "Beatrice, where's Julius" With strength returning to his limbs, he got up with assistance from Beatrice, "Over here, Subaru" He glanced over to the voice that called him, and he could see Julius sitting down by the wall, he was injured as well, but not to Subaru's extent.

He walked over to him, grabbing everyone else's attention, "Hey, you felt it too right?" He asked Julius, a vague question it was, no one understood what he meant by that, but Julius did, he understood the question, and so he nods, "Such a vivid experience… it would be weird if I said I hadn't felt such a strong presence inside me…"

"What are ya two talking about?" Anastasia asked, not quite getting what the two were at, she herself didn't feel anything but fear during the battle, neither did Beatrice nor did Meili, it was just Julius and Subaru that acted according to this 'feeling', "What you ask… well, it's kind of hard to explain, but to put it simply…" Subaru sat down, letting his legs rest for a little longer.

"We were possessed"

"Possessed, I suppose?" With that out in the open, they all shuddered, was there a mysterious entity that forced them to continue fighting? Were they being watched by someone from afar? "Subaru, that's not possible, I suppose! It's one thing for the knight, but for you to get possessed, it's unthinkable, you have Betty as a contracted spirit, I suppose, even if you were possessed, Betty would be able to tell"

"No, it's not that kind of thing, it's like possession but a little different"

"It's as Subaru said, though possession would be a close enough term to describe it, it isn't entirely correct… a better way to explain it would be as if our entire being was being overwritten, like writing ontop a piece of paper that already has writing on it… there was never an entity that possessed us, it was merely information..."

"Information?" Anastasia asked, still confused about this 'possession' and what not "Information… in other words, memories, feelings, and actions. You guys remembered when I suddenly went and lashed out at the guy? Those moves, as much as I hate saying it, those moves aren't my own, no matter how hard I try, I'll probably never be able to fight like that, they were too refined, to professional…"

"Indeed, it felt as if I myself was watching an adept fighter, with a lifetimes worth of experience… I too felt like my memories were being overwritten, I felt like I was about to collapse and disappear until Subaru snapped me out of it, the last attack I unleashed, that also was not my attack, I've never used magic like that, I've never even used magic on my own, if it was my spirits doing it back then it would make sense, but they weren't there"

"Okay… so in short, what yer tryin to tell us is that you were moving as if you were a completely different person?"  
"Indeed, we felt the emotions of these people, and acting according to how they would act…"

It explained why Subaru felt anger, it explained why he wouldn't back down even though he didn't need to fight any longer, it explained why Julius had an animalistic smile when he gazed over at the battle, it explained why his eyes were twitching excitedly when he looked on, he wanted to fight them, he wanted to prove his strength.

"Then, there's no question about what caused this…" Anastasia remarked.

"Indeed, there is no other option"  
"Even an idiot would be able to tell at this point"

The [Book of the Dead], that was where this all stemmed from, from Subaru's masterful movements to Julius's final magic strike, they were the cause of this, this was the result of them reading those books, "Just before Anastasia came to get me, I read one more book out of curiosity, the owner of that book, the title of it, was Minerva, the Witch of Wrath" that was exactly what he felt, wrath, he felt her wrath, by reading her book, he gained her emotional trait and so he succumbed to the wrath, and fought on.

"And I'm certain, I have no doubt about it, that last strike I had unleashed, it was the signature move of Balroy Temegrif, cloaking his sword in mana and letting the mana explode into a slice of energy, it could be called a variant of Crusch-sama's hundred men strike, just with Yang instead of wind magic. It seems whoever's book you read, you inherit their powers or something of the sort…"

Subaru gained the moves and prowess of an adept fighter, and Julius had inherited magic from a fierce foe from the past, "So to sum it all up, ya inherited their powers and feelins'? Hmm, it ain't too crazy considering what we've already been through…" Indeed, even more, baffling things are to come, they were all sure of it, this isn't your ordinary watchtower after all.

* * *

They waited until everyone was well rested, Emilia and Shaula had awoken, and now the questioning started, "So Shaula, you know who that was right?" The teary-eyed woman nodded as she sniffled her nose, "That was Reid Astrea…" Reid Astrea… a name they haven't hea- "ASTREA?!" Subaru blurted out.

"Hey, hey, guys is it just me or did she just-"  
"Yes Subaru, we heard, you don't need to overreact like that, stay calm"  
"No wonder he was so strong, wait no, forget about that, how the heck did we survive!?"

To think that the man they were facing was a relative of Reinhard, it sent chills down their spines, this man, he was probably, "Shaula, he's a sword saint, isn't he?" she nodded, after a bit of explanation, she told them that he was one of the strongest people in the world, at her time anyway, if she were to fight him, she'd be played with, he won't take anything seriously unless it's worth the effort.

"This guy… why do I get the feeling that he's Reinhard mixed in with a slacker…"  
"Indeed, I can see the connection, though, I'd say he's also a bit more provocative than Reinhard"

"This is scary, I'm scared out of my pants right now, if we stayed there even a second longer, he'd have our heads off, seriously, how are we gonna finish that trial with this team? Maybe we should have brought Reinhard along, or at least more smart people, haah, if Otto were here, we could use him as a decoy, but even then, it's not like we can even lay a scratch on him..."

With Subaru regretting not bringing enough people with him, the others were brainstorming other ideas on how to resolve the current situation, "Ah, I still don't completely understand the thing with gaining powers from the book of the dead and all, but, if we can get stronger by reading them, won't it be good for us all to read them? Then maybe, with all of us combined, we'd all be able to take him on"

A sound idea, Emilia proposed, it would definitely work, were it not for the consequences, "Reading one book is one thing, but reading multiple, though I don't have any proof, I feel that it would be dangerous… if reading one could cause your whole body to listen to a separate personality, imagine what would happen if you read more? Your head will be filled with voices, all fighting for control…"

"Dissociative identity…"

"It's scary to think about it, but that's what happened alright… it'd be best for us to not read any more books for the time being, at least until we find a way to undo this… having no control of your body is a really bad thing…" Subaru said, and everyone agreed, getting your memories overwritten would be like losing yourself to another person, in other words, ceasing to exist, or so they thought like.

"Well, for now, I think it would be for the best if we all more a bit more rest…" Julius advised as he got up from his sitting position, perhaps that would be the best course of action, they didn't exactly want to meet Reid right now, and from the looks of the lighting, it seems things were getting dark, "Then, guess we should call it a night?"

"Indeed…"

And so, they all called it off for today, "Imma go look around s'more, ya never know what may be laying around…" And with that, Anastasia left the scene, Emilia, Meili, and Beatrice left shortly after, heading towards the library, Subaru did warn them not to read anything and they said they wouldn't. Julius, meanwhile, stayed in the room with the plant spirit, he wasn't completely healed yet, and so Subaru left him there on his own as Shaula followed him downstairs, making his way to his ground dragon, who's been cruelly left out of the loop.

"Hello, Patrasche, sorry about leaving you down here and all…"

The dragon growled in a low tone to show that she didn't really mind, looking at him with her sharp yellow eyes, "Ah man, having you here really helps me calm my nerves down, me and my trusty partner can never be apart eh? Ah, probably shouldn't say that, Beatrice wouldn't like it one bit…" Subaru sat by her side while petting her snout, Shaula then wiggled in between them and asked.

"Sensei, pat Shaula too, Shaula wants pets please!"  
"Heh, as if! Your not a little kid, neither are you a ground dragon, besides, you don't see me petting Emilia, why'd you think I'd pet you?"

"But, Sensei's always treating me like a kid, so isn't it alright?"

"Not only are you taller than me, but you're like, how old? As old as Beako, I presume, since you've been in this tower, so you have to be acting your age, grow up would ya?" Subaru's firm words pierced through her heart, and she slumped to the ground, not receiving what she asked for, "T-Then… if Sensei wants a more mature approach… then I'll-"

"Hey, Shaula?"  
"Yes, Sensei!"  
"I'm gonna sleep now, so don't let anyone bother me kay?"  
"U-Uh… roger!"

"Patrasche…"

"If Shaula does anything weird to me, be sure to wake me up"  
"Sensei has no trust in Shaula?!"

With Subaru resting his head on his ground dragon, who was keeping a sharp stare on Shaula, he let out a big yawn, "A-Ah, Sensei! Then, at least let Shaula give you a lap pillow to sleep on!" Subaru scoffed, and grinned as he opened up his eyes, "There've only been a few people who're allowed to give me a lap pillow, you'll have to show your worth and prove your trust if you wanna be in the special club"

"Uwaah! Fine, Shaula will stay guard and let Sensei have a good nights sleep!"  
"Haah… I feel bad for the dude, to be dealing with you all the time…"

As a few moments of silence pass, he suddenly whispered, "Authority of Gluttony, Retention!" And so with that, he fell into a deep, deep sleep.

.

Darkness…

That's all he saw…

It sunk into him…

Suffocating him...

Or so he thought…

"Gh- Guaah!" He jerked his head up as he felt the need to breathe surge through his lungs, "Haah… haah…" looking around him, he could see shallow water spreading far off into the distance, an imminent feeling of isolation loomed over him in as the small waves glisten around his waist, "So this is _my_ mind, huh? It's much more different than Meili's… guess everyone's minds are different…"

Standing up and feeling the solid ground below the water, Subaru scanned his surroundings, this is his first time being in his own mind, though, the feeling was quite similar to when he was inside Meili's mind with Satella, though, his mind seems to be a tad bit- no, his mind seems far darker, literally, there were no light sources anywhere to be seen except for the one mysteriously hanging over him.

"Well… since I'm here, I might as well look through my memories to find this place everyone's been saying I come from… though I'm sure I can't find it, there's bound to be some clue about where it is, I do remember talking to Ella about 'going back home', let's see…"

Thinking really hard, the water in front of Subaru suddenly started to rise, "Hmm… it was just after the knighting ceremony I think…" The water turned from blue to an array of colors and there, Subaru saw a replay of exactly what had happened that day, and at that time. He was talking with Satella and Beatrice, it seems this was just after they had entered the clearing in the forest.

He then saw a crack appeared in front of himself, that was different from the normal rift that appears when he's teleporting, that's the kind that happens when he tries to traverse through different dimensions, or so he remembered Satella say, "So… I'm not exactly from this world… well that explains why Beako won't talk about it, the others probably don't know about it and telling them would be a big shocker wouldn't it... now, if only I can get a glimps-"

Before he could see any more, the water that afloat dropped down as it splashed to the ground, "Ugh… so those have been taken huh…?" He sighed as he let his hand down loosely, rather disappointed by the result, but it was to be expected, "..." He felt a presence behind him, and he jerked his head backwards, a strikingly familiar figure stood before him, "Oh yeah… you're what I came here for…"

Her figure, her clothes, her hair, they all mirrored perfectly to Minerva's own, one could say that this is her right here, but, "The one I know was much more lively then you are… you're quite silent to be Minerva…" Suddenly, the figure walked over to Subaru, slowly but surely. It wasn't threatening him in any way, she posed no danger, she was just doing that, walking.

"Violence… they all use violence as a means to torture, mock, and belittle you, yet, you refrain from doing anything? The clown, he played you to no end, yet you still don't exact your revenge? The woman in black, she sliced you up countless times, yet all you do is toss her into a flame? Why? Where is the wrath you hold inside of you? Why won't you let it roam free?"

The figure asked Subaru these questions relentlessly while showing him images from his past, Elsa, Roswaal, and even that one time with Betelgeuse, the memories that made Subaru feel an intense hatred, intense anger, wrath, "Don't get me wrong, I hate them… I hate Elsa's weird fetishes, I hate Roswaal's screwed up logic, I hate Betelgeuse all together, I hate Julius's guts, I hate them all… but most importantly, I hate myself the most…"

"..."

"I hate myself because I had the potential to hate them, if I weren't weak, maybe I wouldn't have come to hate them, maybe if I were strong enough to handle everything by myself, if I had the strength to understand, maybe then, just maybe, I would not have hated them… Hating people is a real drag you know? Hating someone, the feeling itself is contradictory to its meaning, by hating someone so much, you give them attention, doing so makes your emotions dependant on them, in the end, hating things isn't going to help you… sure it gives you resolve, but once that resolve brings you what you want, what next? All that's left of you would be a sense of emptiness, then you'd go on and fill in that emptiness with even more hatred, it's the easy way out after all…"

"..."

"There's a saying that goes 'you forgive and forget', you ever heard of it? Yeah, maybe if it were a friend, or a person you know, you could forgive them, but if it's a person you hate, you can't just forgive them like that, there are people who deserve to be forgiven, and those who aren't, I'm not a person who forgives people very easily, so I have no choice but to just forget, I'll keep it in the back of my head until they show up again, and when they do, I'll just force it back even further. Letting wrath control my emotions, that's not something someone as weak as me should be doing…"

"Weak…?"

"Yeah, I'm weak, I'm plenty weak, if you want you can say it's one of my strong points, even with all my power, I'm still weak inside, fragile, I'm a person who can't handle losing someone very easily, you know? Even though I've got to go through it multiple times, I'm still weak to it, just seeing someone die feels my throat with this disgusting feeling, this sour feeling, taking a life away was not in the slightest, easy, I realized that when I've seen so many people die in front of me…"

"..."

"I'm Natsuki Subaru, no matter when, no matter why, I'll always be weak, that's just the person I am, that's just how I'll be, and that's why, wrath, I won't let it control me, though it is something I accept, it not something I'll use, wrath is a part of me, but it doesn't control me, it makes me who I am, but it doesn't affect how I choose, that is for me to decide, don't you think?"

"..."

The figure just stared silently towards Subaru, not moving for a good few seconds, "Fine… that much, is enough…" The figure then started to fade, fade into the dark waters far off…

* * *

"Haah..."

Subaru had awoken from his slumber and upon getting up, he notices Shaula curling up on him, he quickly moves her over, "I thought you were supposed to stand guard…" Hearing a growl from his side, he was met with those sharp yellow eyes once more, "Heh, guess I can always count on you eh, Patarasche? Well, sorry to cut it short, but, I think I have somewhere to be going…"

Holding her head down, as if saying 'Of course you do' in a sarcastic manner, Subaru chuckled, "You can call it a night now, so sleep well okay?" Petting the jet black ground dragon once more, he got on his feet and approached the stairs.

The green room was what he entered, he no longer needed any healing, but being in the room just gave the sort of relaxing tone one would expect, he kept on going further, pulling the vines away he opens up the door to the second staircase, and climbs higher, until he makes it to the metallic door, there was someone there.

"Where do you think you're going on your own huh?" Subaru calls out in the darkness, a yellow glow appeared as the person turned their head around, their purple hair darkened by the lack of light, "Hmm, you visit at the most peculiar moments don't you? Well, I expected this would happen, though I dislike admitting it, I'd say we have a rather similar mindset when it comes to suspicions and what not..."

"Great minds think alike? I don't like being compared to you, so please don't compare us, Julius…"

* * *

A/N

Happy 2019!

Ahhhh, I feel refreshed after the new year, don't you guys? Time for more chapters! Took a while because, the strangest things just decided to happen, some friends I know who dissed a game I loved with burning hot passion decided that it was an okay game and started playing, I, who couldn't keep my smug and happy attitude in check, caught wind of it and joined in on the fun. Haven't sleep for 5 days straight (Exaggeration), what a way to start the new years eh?"

Sorry if the first half was maybe not checked well, I haven't slept well because of obvious reasons, so I wasn't exactly in the best state when proofing this chapter, sorry about that, will be better after I get a good nights rest!

 **Spooky Sharma**

 **Wow. This chapter caught me by surprise. But I am also confused. Subaru met with all the witches and I guess it makes sense that Minerva can direct her punishment through him but Julius? I mean I can't make any head or tail of his situation. I have many theories for Subaru's surge of power but for Julius, there are none. Hope the next chapter will clarify all my doubts.**

Well, it's less of a power surge and more of an ability surge? With Minerva's memories coming into Subaru, he learns how to fight with his fists properly, also… Subaru's never used Demonic Rage to its utmost until now, is the best I got for ya in terms of his power…

This whole thing with the books and the memories was basically me taking an event that happens in the canon arc6 but just exaggerating the effects tenfold or so, don't wanna spoil too much so i'll stop here...


	33. Chapter 30: The Knight, The Warlock

**Warlock of Sin. Arc 3: Linking the Past and The Present**

 **Chapter** **30: The Knight, The Warlock, and The Sword**

They open up the iron door once more, and in they went to the white room, just those two, Subaru and Julius, "Oi, you here?" Subaru called out into the white room, it had reverted back to its original clean white color, no more burn marks or craters from their previous battle were here, "It we'll have to follow the same procedure as last time… speaking of last time, that was some insane power you showed Subaru? I was surprised, may I ask what exactly that was?"

Looking at Subaru skeptically, Julius asked, Subaru didn't really know how to reply, he can't just straight up say it's because of witch genes, he doesn't want people to be wary of him, "Even if you ask me, I don't really know… perhaps it's something to do with the book I read… ah, I did read Typhon's book! Maybe that was why?" Quickly trying to come up with some excuse, Subaru urges Julius forward towards the sword.

"So we just gotta pull it out I guess?"  
"Then might as well get thi-"

With a mere touch, they felt another presence in the room, "So ye two decided to come back all o' sudden?" The man in red had returned, and he looked down on them with one of his eyes, the other was covered by his eyepatch, "We've come to take our prize, you said that if we could move you an inch, you'd tell us how to proceed or something like that"

The man thought for a while before replying to Subaru, but it was a disappointment, "Well yer prize's expired ya see. If ye didn't chicken out, probably would'a told ye, now ya gotta do it a second time, heh" Smirking at the two, the man whips up his chopsticks, pointing it at them, "Take the trial's sword, don't need em"

Listening to the man, Julius promptly grabs the sword aiming it at him, "Then we'll just have to go at it again, Subaru" "Heard you loud and clear! Also, before we start, you are Reid Astrea, the sword saint… right?" Upon saying that the man clicks his tongue, presumably irritated at what Subaru had said, "Titles titles titles, all ye yapping about are those damn shitty titles, I'm just the stick swinger, ye wanna contest? Bring it shrimp!"

"Julius Juukulius, the Knight with no name"  
"Natsuki Subaru, the Warlock of sin"

"Damn titles…" The man suddenly left the ground and with a single step, had already stepped within range, "Invisible providence" Bringing his hands out, and several other unseen ones and restrained the man's hands, "This thing…" "Julius!" Grasping the hilt of his sword tightly, Julius pours in mana into the blade and lets out a blinding slash of light that.

"Hmph…"

Upon impact, smoke blew up in front of them, covering their field of vision, but there was a problem, the man didn't get hit, he merely parried it with great speed, Subaru knew, he was able to break out of his grasp and block that attack, "Get back!" Suddenly, the cloud of smoke burst out, dissipating, Julius had done as Subaru said and leaped backwards, avoiding a deadly blow by the man.

"So yer one of 'those', reminds me of that slacker"  
"Sekhmet huh?"

Julius prepared his sword once more, but the man didn't waste a second, appearing beside him, ready to strike down once more, but the next instant Julius was gone, it surprised the man, "You're fighting two people, not one!" Subaru, who was now in Julius's place, grabbed his hands once more, but this time, instead of holding him down, he did something else "Infernal Blaze!" An explosion of purple flames erupted from his arms, covering the man, and the area around them in a cold scorching flame.

"What's this? Some silly excuse for a fire?"  
"This isn't for hurting you redhead! It's so he can see you in all that shining light"

Looking behind him, the man saw Julius, shrouded in light, preparing another attack, "Damn, ye smartass's!" Letting go of the man's hand, Subaru tries to kick at his chest with all his might, but he just launched himself backwards, the man didn't move at all, as sturdy as a mountain was all that Subaru could think, no, a mountain couldn't even compare, "Ul-Jiwald!"

Julius launches his blinding attack once more towards the man, but the man thought nothing of it, simplifying lifting his body in the air to dodge the strike, "Where are ye aimin, purple shrimp?" The slash zoomed pass the man, and was now heading for Subaru, "Minya!" Forming a purple crystalline blade in his hands, he slams at the magical strike, as if it was a baseball, "Counter!"

He launches the strike right back at the man, returning with twice the speed, the man grinned and spun his chopsticks, not intending to dodge anymore, "Look at ye, trying to play me with lil tricks like this" He forcefully grabs the attack with his chopsticks and pushes it back with pure strength, just how strong is this guy? The other two thought.

"An done!" After completely nullifying the attack, the man spits on the ground, not even breaking a sweat, but he felt Julius coming from behind him, "Yer too sl-" He tried to doge but he notices that his movements were restricted, looking below, shadows were wrapping around his body, preventing him from dodging as he likes, as a result, Julius managed to slice of a strand of his hair, "Alla that for a piece of hair? Weak"

Breaking free of the shadows restraints with a forceful kick to the ground, the man tries to punch Julius straight in the face when he suddenly disappeared again, "Ye wanna try tankin me? Bring it on then!" Subaru, who had once again, taken Julius's place, blocked the man's flurry of attacks with his several unseen hands, but they were fading away with each hit.

"Al-Murak!" A sudden large amount of mana was sent through the man in into the ground, Subaru felt all his energy coursing through his body like electricity, it made him halt his movements for a second, "What?!" The man was surprised when he and Subaru started to float off the ground, "Thanks to your punches, all the air is pushed away from this area, and since gravity is no longer a thing, you can't push anything to dodge this next attack! Law of inertia baby!"

"Those are some weird terms you're saying Subaru, I'll have you explain them to me later, they sound important, Ul-Jiwald!"  
"Ye got me…"

A final slash of light, and the match ended, Reid got hit head-on with the attack and with Subaru having already teleported away, it was a complete win for the two. "Still, a pretty weak one if ye ask me…" The man dusted himself off as he got off. The moment he left Subaru's zero-gravity area, he neutralized the attack with his hand, an amazing feat that stunned both Subaru and Julius. Initially, they thought that maybe the chopsticks were some divine weapon or something, but they were simply chopsticks in the end, sturdy chopsticks, but chopsticks nonetheless.

"The weak's got their own weapons, nothin to do bout that guess…"

The man walked up to the two and snickered, it ticked the two off being called weak, but doing so would not bring the situation forward, "So, guess that counts as moving you an inch right? So, speak up, what do we do to finish the trials?" The man nods and puts his chopstick back into his pocket, "There are three of 'me', one've em's in a sword, one of em's in the ground, where's the other one?"

He answered them with a riddle, it seems he was referring to himself when he said 'me', "The one in the sword is the real one, the one in the ground is the remains, what is the other one?" He continued, they didn't stop him yet, it seemed he still had more to say, "Bring the tome that links all three together, and yer granted access to the next level…"

Two questions, and one object of requirement, where is this other 'Reid', what is this other 'Reid', and bring a book that ties all three 'Reids' together, what that means it's a question they'd like to answer, "Only the two of ye shrimps allowed this info, so don't go yappin yer mouth, hear me? If ye tell, i'mma go after ya" Saying that with a calm yet eerie air, the two nodded, and turned back, they got what they came for and now they'll have to retreat for the night.

* * *

"Three Reid's huh…"

As they climbed down the stairs, Subaru contemplate on the riddle, Julius was doing so too, "It's obvious one of them is the corpse, the one in the ground… the remains…" "Indeed, and I'm sure that the one in the sword is referring to Reinhard's own sword…" Subaru, being a little shocked by the sudden information, gave Julius a look, "Reinhard's sword?"

"You didn't know? The sword saint's blade is known as 'The Dragon Sword Reid', even a fool would be able to make the connection, it's too obvious to not have one. The sword that chooses its opponents, I have the urge to suggest that the sword itself is where the soul of 'Reid' resides in"

"Then, that makes the remains his body, we have the soul, and the body, then the last one should be…"

Subaru thought hard, but he couldn't think of anything, he had a feeling that he might have gotten it, but it slipped right out of his grasp, Julius was having a hard time finding it as well, 'Mind…' "Huh?" Subaru heard a voice out of nowhere, it was a familiar voice, Ella, it was Ella, "Something wrong Subaru?" Julius asked Subaru, who suddenly looked like he got something.

"Ah, I just thought of it, but I think the last piece would be the 'mind'"

Body, Soul, and the Mind, they all came together Subaru suddenly thought, the Body stores a person's identity, the Soul represents a person's will, and the Mind was the person's personality, tying them all those together, it made sense, "So the final Reid, the one we just fought… that was a 'copy' of how the real Reid's personality? It does sound plausible…"

But the real problem would be the last thing, the 'tome', in other words, a book, they need a book that links the body, soul, and mind, they have nothing though, all that's there is the book of the dead, and they can't exactly see how it links all three of them together, "Well, I think it's best to just call it a night for now…"

"Yeah…"

And with that, the two retired to their own places. Subaru went back to check on Patrasche, who was sleeping soundly near Shaula, it seems the rest were sleeping where elsewhere. Subaru sat down beside Patrasche, patting her head as she slept soundly, The night was calm, the whole tower was calm, it wasn't a bad place to live in, though it could get boring with no one here, Subaru suddenly felt a little sympathetic to Shaula.

"Book of the Dead… wait, maybe if we find Reid's book of the dead… but how does it connect all three of them toge- Memories! Yes, all three of those need memories right…"

Thinking he's found a foothold for this mystery, he gets back up, "Maybe if I take a read, I'll be able to find out something…" He heads for the library once more, it was as big as ever. He first takes a run around, picking up random books to see if he can get lucky and pull it out, but no, he didn't find the book of anyone he knows.

After a few more minutes of running and random picking, he decides to rest for a bit and sits down by a bookshelf, "Hey Ella… feel like talking now?" Looking down on the crystal on his neck, he asked the question to the girl inside, the response was a few pink flickers, it was probably a good sign, Subaru thought.

"Thanks for the help, the 'Mind' huh… I feel like I've heard of those three things together once… must be with my lost memories, though it is weird, I remember learning a lot of stuff… I said something about the law of Inertia, I learned that somewhere, but I don't know where, gravity too… I also remember pressure, force, all of those things… man, if it weren't for my past self learning those things, we'd probably never have beaten Reid… crazy coincidences am I right? Hehe..."

It really felt like he was talking to himself, but he thought that she'd be listening so he hoped that it'd alleviate her boredom a little, "Huh?" Subaru felt a sudden presence, it was for a very brief second, a tiny fraction, but he sense something, and then he heard a thud, "Who's tha-" He saw a book fall down in the distance, he felt no one nearby.

"..."

He slowly approaches the book that had fell from a bookshelf and picks it up, "This is-" Reid Astrea, is what the title of the book read, it was the book that he was searching for, with this, he may be permitted to enter the next floor.

Out of excitement, Subaru opened up the book, and started to read, only "Huh…" There was nothing there, it was all blank, it was weird he thought, but suddenly, he felt extremely tired, "W-What…" He had a similar feeling when he was reading Typhon and Minerva's books, but this was on a whole nother level, the numbness was incredible, he almost couldn't stand it.

"Fufu…"  
"Ghh!"

Hearing something from behind him, he formulated his blade and slashed backwards but he dropped his sword before he could make the complete swing, "You… who are… you…" Before Subaru knew it, he collapsed to the ground, his eyes went blurry as he saw someone's feet on the ground, "What a shame, you were so~ close too… well, not that it'd make a difference if you touched me…"

His conscious slowly faded into black, all he could see after was a purple light sporadically flickering, as if trying to wake him up, like an alarm clock, his phone had one right? Phone? Right, it was something that was invented in his world, that's right, he comes… from that world… Another world? Was there another world? Yes, he remembers it clearly now, his parents, his family, his house, his country, his school, his room, his clothes, his toys, his books, his front yard, his sister, his world, he remembers it...

"I'm sorry to say... but from now on, you'll no longer be Natsuki Subaru…"

* * *

A/N

Hmm, whipped this up because I got stuck on a chapter for my other story, anyway, next chapter is when the real fun starts, get ready! This is where it splits off from the canon Rezero!

 **Spooky Sharma**

 **The chapter did clarify most of the things which I was confused about. But if Demonic Rage is his trump card why didn't Subaru used it while fighting Van Astrea, because I could clearly see he wasn't the kind of enemy to be taken lightly by playing for a tad bit to learn his moves, rather Subaru should have tried to finish him then and there.**

Quite simple, imagine if you are in Julius's position, you personally beat him up, you know he's got no power whatsoever, now you see him suddenly creating shockwaves mid-air, that would be a little suspicious no? Demonic rage is the result of the witch genes for Pride, Subaru is trying to hide the fact that he has those you see?


	34. Chapter 31: What, Who and Why?

**Warlock of Sin. Arc 3: Linking the Past and The Present**

 **Chapter** **31: What, Who and Why?**

In the empty darkness, a small spark flickered in the distance, in a place devoid of light, devoid of anything, no memories, no thoughts, it was a clean placeholder for this small spark that was about to relight into a raging flame.

"Where... am I…"

Eyes blurry, a silhouette moving around him, he can't see properly, can't hear properly, he can't even think properly, like the sensation of using something for the first time, you aren't used to it, "Subaru, are you okay?" He heard someone say, firm masculine tone, it was from a man, using his bleary eyes, he made out the face of that person, tidy purple hair, yellow gleaming eyes, but there was another person.

"I was really worried you know? I was shocked when I found you lying down here!"

A glimmer of silver, like the shine of a sharp blade, it was pretty, beautiful, it was the hair of the other person, quite a sight indeed, but he's not having any of that, "N-No!" With his eyes suddenly opening up, he retracts his arms to get away from the gleaming hair, almost instinctively, he knew it was dangerous, he had an innate fear for it, he never wants to see it ever again.

"S-Subaru, are you alright? Did I startle you..."  
"W-Who… who are you…"

"Huh…?"

Subaru? Who is Subaru? No one replied so does that mean I'm Subaru? But I'm not Subaru. I mean, I don't know who I am. Then, who am I? Should I reply? Then I'd be Subaru wouldn't I? Do I want to be Subaru? Do I have to be Subaru? Who's this girl who calls for Subaru? Why am I scared of her? Why is she talking to me? Why don't I know her? What the hell is this!

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"In the library, I suppose?"  
"Must've did a number on yer back, sleeping on the hard floor aint the best feelin…"

After a while has passed the confusion seemed to die down, in enters two more voices, one of a little girl worried and distraught, another that spoke with an unfamiliar dialect, who are these people and what do they want with me? "Yeah, and it also seems he's forgotten about me and Julius…" The silver-haired woman spoke, her voice was sweet yet it made my heart shake.

There was only one man in the room, and his name was Julius. Finely combed purple hair, with stern yellow-glazed irises, wearing a dashing outfit of white and black with a brown and finely sewn overcloak to top. He was the other person I saw back in that rather large library, he called me 'Subaru' no, 'they' all called me 'Subaru' one way of or another, "Natsuki Subaru… is that who I am"

Asking that question out loud, everyone turned their attention to me, who has been left in the blue for quite a while. "Ah, sorry, this must be all really confusing to you…" I nod, looking down as I really know what to do in this situation, "This is really troublesome, I suppose, perhaps Betty should have considered looking over you last night… no, I really should have, ugh, this is very frustrating, I suppose!" The little girl scrubbed her hair in distress, there's a feeling of familiarity with her, I don't know what it is, but I feel like I should know her for some reason.

"Seriously, you're always doing something reckless, are you hurt anywhere, I suppose?" the girl approached me, grabbing my hand, it was stained with a black foreign substance, looking at it, it seems very vexing, but it doesn't seem like it's hurting me or anything, in fact, it feels calming in a way, "I'm not hurt anywhere, I think it's just my back that's sore from being on the ground for too long"

"Good… then, please tell us everything you remember from what happened last night, I suppose, in order to find a cure for this amnesia, we'll have to find the source…" Indeed, though I don't remember who I am, I do have a vague memory of what had happened just before my 'amnesia'. Perhaps that will help me find my true self again.

"I don't remember much… but I can recall walking around somewhere, and picking something up, then I talked to someone… and that was it…"

"That's all we need then… pretty easy to guess the rest from here ain't it?" The purple haired woman butted in, she wore a brown overcloak too, no, now that I'm calmer, everyone's wearing these overclockers, even me. She walks up to me but faces everyone else, "Since Natsuki-kun waked up in the library, it's safe to assume that he's been wandering around the library for something, as for what he picked up, it's obviously a book, what else could you get from a library, now all we need to know, who's spoken to him last night?"

They all looked around, and two people raised up their hands, it was Julius, and another woman, one that hasn't talked yet, "Sensei told Shaula to make sure nothing wakes up sensei so she was diligent and slept by his side" "Then didn't you fail by letting him wake up, I suppose?" "Sensei never said anything about he himself wanting to wake up, so Shaula has been following orders till the end!" I don't think it works that way, this girl must be really carefree, well, one can tell by the clothes she's wearing, they're pretty revealing.

"I've also talked to Subaru last night, but as far as I remember, he wasn't in the library, it was as we were descending down the stairs, I think the last thing I said was 'I think it's best to just call it a night for now…' do you remember, Subaru?"

"I'm sorry, but I don't really remember much… it was only until I entered that library before"  
"I see… then, if it wasn't any of us, then it's certain, Shaula, you are able to tell when someones entered the tower, no?"

"Ah, Yaya, just yesterday, when we were coming back, Shaula thought someone broke into the tower so she rushed but there was no one so Shaula let it slip by"

That's the sort of thing you oughta be suspicious of, Shaula really is a slacker then, but it seems my situation had turned a little bit more serious, an unknown person has broken into this 'tower', the culprit who stole my memories, they talked to me last night, from what Shaula has told us, it's a person that can go in undetected, that is, if we're believing the credibility that she would know if someone enters the tower.

"Then with this, we've confirmed that there are other people here besides us… this will make it rather difficult to proceed, with Natsuki-kun in this state, using his knowledge to steamroll through the trials is no longer an option, we'll have to solve this immediately if we're going to get anywhere…"

Everyone suddenly put on a serious face, I still don't really understand the situation but I can tell that I'm a pretty important part of it, wherever they're going, they can't go on without 'Natsuki Subaru', well, since I have no other choice, I better help out. "Uh, so can someone explain to me where we are and what we're trying to do? Maybe if you jog my memory, I might be able to remember…"

"Something as absurd as that is simply too convenient to happen, I suppose, but even so, seeing you in such a state is enough to make Betty consider it, now, onto the introductions I suppose. I'm Beatrice, an artificial spirit, I am contracted to you, even if you don't remember, that over there is Emilia, you are her knight, she is a candidate for the throne of this country"

I nod as I take in the information slowly, bit by bit, can't have my mind blanking out, that'll only burden everyone more. The purple haired man then started to speak, "My name is Julius, I'm the knight to Anastasia-sama, the woman behind you, she is another candidate for the throne and we are currently working together to solve a very unfortunate problem that I myself and many others have been facing"

"An unfortunate problem" I ask, and he continued on, "Three people, the sin archbishops of gluttony, part of a larger group called the Witch cult, have been going around and eating peoples names and memories, effectively making them forgotten, some had their existence erased while others like me had their names taken… you also fell victim to this, but you seemed to be resistant to it, or so we thought…"

"So then, my amnesia is just a delayed effect of the archbishop of gluttony?"

"Betty doesn't think so, I suppose, you are indeed resistant to their abilities, you've resisted many of them, you were able to see through Betelgeuse's unseen hands, you were able to keep your mind intact when fighting with Sirius, and you only forgot memories from before you met us when you fought against Louise, you even remember the names of the people like Julius who've had their names eaten, it's not a question of whether you're resistant or not, I suppose... Rather, the question is…"

"What happened to the resistance, I have? Is what you're trying to say?"  
"Indeed, I suppose, that person from last night, did something to you…"

It does make sense, the feeling I had last night was one that had been tampered with, like something had been taken away from me, though, it's probably just the amnesia making me feel like I've lost my sense of self, "Okay… so, I'm guessing your Shaula, and the other little one is…?" "Meili, having Onii-san forget my name is a little rude~"

"So we were all working together to find a way to combat the archbishop of gluttony then?"

"Well~ to be exact, Meili is only here because we needed her, and Shaula is the sage of the tower so we were hoping she could help us, but since she doesn't know herself, we're going to have to travel up to the top of the tower in search for our answers…"

I see, so we're not all exactly on the same side, then, couldn't that mean a traitor could be among us? Perhaps it's a possibility, but the situation seems like one that would require complete cooperation, sabotaging one side could lead to nothing for you to gain, it's gotta be an outsider influencing.

"Anyway, I think there's one person we should definitely ask first..."

After hearing Emilia say this, they all looked towards a set of stairs, there must be one more person here that I haven't met yet, and it seems these guys aren't too fond of him, perhaps he's a person who wouldn't cooperate well? "Uh, so should I come along with you all or...?" I ask, not wanting to be left out of this.

"No, I think it would be best if Subaru stayed here, I suppose, seeing what happened last time, it'd be best if we kept the number of people low, actually, let's split up, I suppose"

"Mhh, ya got a plan there, guess half of us should go an question em, while another goes and looks around the library for clues, leave no stone unturned as they say"

And I've been completely left out, well, I can't blame them, as I am right now, I'm probably just dead weight anyway, might as well be a good dead weight and sit still, "So, where should I stay? Is there like some kind of waiting room in this tower or something? Don't want to bother you guys while you're doing your thing…"

"Then the green room should be fine"

Green room, I feel like the person who named that room should've had a little more enthusiasm when naming it, such a simple name, "Meili, can you stay with Subaru while we're busy, we don't want him getting lost" Excuse me, Emilia, but I'm positive I have the mental capacity to stay in a room and not move when I'm told to, I don't need a kid babysitting me.

"Hmph, well it's not like I've got anything better to do~"

The little girl already starts moving, now that I think about it, I have no idea where this green room is, so I hurriedly follow her to wherever she was going, the room wasn't far away so it wasn't much of a walk, "Woah, guess I can see why it's called the green room…" A room filled with vines, draping from the top and tangle around the floor, such greenery.

"Grr…"  
"Heh?"

I hear a groan from behind me, this isn't good, not good whatsoever, "H-Help-" Before I could react, I was tackled to the ground, well, it's safer to say that I was shoved to the wall, a wet sticky tongue licked my face, "Woah, woah! What is this, Meili?!" Opening my eyes, I see a black skinned lizard, a large one as well, no, it was gigantic, why is it so big?!

"Geez, guess Onii-san really did lose his memories, you don't even remember your precious ground dragon, how sad~"

Ground dragon? Is that what this oversized lizard is? And it's mine too? "Ahh, so it's not gonna eat me right?" Saying that, the ground dragon nuzzled its snout on my cheek, I guess it must really like Natsuki Subaru, "Do you happen to know its name?" "Hmm~ if I remember, you called her Patrasche, it's a weird~ name, to be honest…"

The ground dragon, Patrasche, snorted at her comment, I guess she really is attached to her owner. I put my hand on her and looked her in the eye, "I'm really sorry for taking Subaru away, but the others are finding him, so it should be alright after a while…" As I say this, Meili gives me an unamused look, "Shouldn't you be saying 'Sorry I forgot about you' instead? Onii-san is really weird isn't he?"

"Uh… I just don't feel like I should be using his name… I'm not him anyway, calling myself him would be saying that the previous Subaru is the same as me which is a lie. His name is his, his memories are his, I don't think I have the right to use them, it's just not fair for me to be calling myself Subaru while he's somewhere else…"

"Heh? But you are Onii-san right? Guuh, Petra always said that Onii-san was weird and liked to talk to himself a lot but this is way~ more than I can handle, guess Onii-san must be worked up in the head or something"

"Well, enough about me, what about you? What brings you here?"

"Hmm? I'm just an assassin that you guys defeated, I've been brought here against my free will, not that it's any better in the basement anyway…" Wait, what have these guys been doing imprisoning a small child like her? And what the hell, she's a murderer!? They thought it was a good idea to have an assassin watch over me, that being said, maybe she's just joking around, there's no way a kid like her could kill anyone right?

"Onii-san, you didn't just think I'm incapable of killing someone did you?"  
"N-No, I thought nothing of the sort, I believe you wholeheartedly…"

"Eh~ I know of several ways to get you right now you know? First, I could strangle your neck, your pretty strong physically but as you are now, even I can hold you down long enough for you to lose consciousness, I can also poke a sharp piece into your eye and watch as you bleed away, oh, I can also just find a way to set a curse on you, if I stick around long enough, maybe I'd be able to curse you, hehe…"

This kid, she's freaking scary! Why did they leave her with me, I want out of this, someone save me, "Just kidding! Well, not really, I can still do it all, but that's no~ fun, hmph, Onii-san is fun to tease but they're just gonna get mad at me for scary you, so I'm just gonna leave for now…" Without even a second thought, the girl stood up and opened up the door, it seems like she was going to go to where everyone else was.

"I don't want to be in another room alone with her… Patrasche, you'll protect me right?!"

Trying to find comfort in the only other person in the room, Patrasche eyed the door, as if telling me not to provoke her, so she really was an assassin that could have done the deed there and then, "But maybe she was just playing with me… damn, I'm too on edge right now, Patrasche, I think I'm gonna go explore this 'tower' to put my mind at ease, do stay here in case someone comes looking for me"

I got up and decide to leave the room as well, but unlike Meili, I decided to go the door opposite of the one she went in, that way, I won't have to catch her, even though she's probably joking around, I don't want to try my chances, even if I'm just being paranoid.

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This tower is a rather spacious place, might I say it's also rather high up, I'm getting quite nervous just looking down through an opening, how long did it take to get up here? "Everything outside is just a desert too, this must be a really desolate area, just what could we be finding so far out of civilization…"

I walk around some more until I find what could only be a spiraling staircase, one that lead downwards, all made of stone with a big circle in the center that went all the way to the bottom, it was big enough that you could fall straight down without hitting the sides of the stairs were you to jump properly, "You really should put railings on these things…"

I sit on the edge of the stairs and stare down, it was like an eerie dark void, I could see the bottom but it was dark, and it sent chills down my spine, "If I were to fall down… I wonder how if it'll be a painless death, or one filled with agony…" Just as I was contemplating the idea, I hear a loud yelp, it was the kind a lizard would make, Patrasche… "Patrash-!"

Shove…

"Huh…?"

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My mind suddenly went blank.

"Huh…..?"

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I myself lose touch with anything, I felt myself free of any bounds.

"...?"

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Nothing was touching me, I was touching nothing, it was a sensation of complete nothingness.

"..."

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I watched as a silhouette retracted their arms, as they turned around.

"Bye~ Onii-san…"

.

.

I was falling, right?

"..."

.

.

Yes, I am falling, falling to my impending doom.

"Hah…"

.

.

Hmm perhaps now would be a great time to test this.

"Haha…"

.

.

Will it be a painless death, or one filled with agony…

"Hahaha!"

.

.

I'm going to die, a person who woke up with nothing several minutes ago.

"Hahahaha!"

.

.

Is going to die.

"Haha…"

.

.

"Ha…"

.

.

.

.

"Bye..."

* * *

A/N

Okay, the next hurdle is coming, let's see if it'll take a month to finish the next one… I'm really sorry for the delay...

 **Spooky Sharma**

 **Ok. You did clarify my previous question thanks. The chapter was short but the action scenes were alluring to read. I just so badly want Satella to come back. I don't know if you are planning it or not, but I want Subaru to romance Satella, she is my favorite character after Pandora and Echidna after all.**

Well to be frank with you… it's going to happen sooner or later so yeah, there's that… if it doesn't happen, you can sue me though.


	35. Chapter 32: Confusion

**Warlock of Sin. Arc 3: Linking the Past and The Present**

 **Chapter** **32: Confusion**

My body shivered, I felt darkness wrapped around me, it felt evil, dangerous, and cold. I don't remember what happened, my mind had blanked off the moment it happened so I'm not sure if I can really trust my mind, well, it doesn't really matter anymore, my time had finished, I'm finished, I'll never be able to come back, I wasn't even able to give his body back, "Subaru?"

Yes, that's his name, Natsuki Subaru, they really depended on the guy, I wish I could apologize to him before going, but I guess… "Subaru! What are you doing sleeping over here?" Ah, that's Julius's voice, and the one before that was the silver-haired girl, Emilia wasn't it? Yes, maybe I can see them if I open my eyes.

"...huh…?"  
"Ah, Subaru, you're awake, are you okay?"  
"Hmm… ah, sorry… I was with Patrasche, and then I decided I'd take a walk around the tower… guess, I must've fallen asleep?"

I drag myself up, wiping the drowsiness out of my eyes, this was the library, the same one I woke up to last time, did someone drag me back up here? "Ugh, my heads a little spinny…" I can't think straight, this headache will grow stronger the more I think so It'd be best if I just go with whatever is happening…

"Okay… then you should rest a bit more, we're going up to check on Reid again after you're all done, meet us back later you here?"

And with that, the two left, my hands were still in my eyes as I try to contemplate what had happened, "..." I stared at those hands, and I thought, I thought hard about what had happened, I thought really hard about it, and I can say with full confidence, "I died… right?" Or to be exact, I should have died, I remember being shoved over to my death, but, did I really ever die?

"..."

Just the thought of it seemed to make me break a sweat, perhaps, I didn't die, perhaps something else happened, maybe down those stairs wasn't a rock hard floor, maybe I survived somehow. Either way, I'm back here, alive, "What… what do I do now…" If I remember correctly, I was alone there, no one else was with me, I've left Patrasche back in the green room, and there was no one else that could have pushed me, they were simply too far away-

"Meili…"

That's right, she was there wasn't she, she must have been the one, I know it, there's no one else who could have done it, she was forced to come so she had no reason to listen to what anyone had to say, yes, that's right, she's the one behind this, behind his memories being taken, she must be the person I met that night.

"Geh, Onii-san, you're making a scary~ face, did something happen?"

I turn myself towards that voice, it was her? What is she doing here, why did she show herself? "Meili… you're acting pretty calmly aren't you?" She's looking at me with a look of confusion, why are you looking at me like that? When you know exactly what you did, "Just because Onii-san was beaten to a pulp doesn't mean I'm gonna be the one traumatized right? Besides, I've already seen Elsa do that a lot of times..."

"What?"

I don't remember being beaten, I just remembered being dropped off the stairs, what is she talking about? "Heeh, Onii-san, did you hit your head somewhere? Perhaps the red man really did traumatize you…" What's she talking about? What red man, was this the other person that the rest were talking about? Was he the reason for my memory loss, perhaps so, maybe I'm mistaking things a little.

"Ah, no, nevermind, I'm just a little drowsy from sleeping for too long, I guess?"  
"Onii-san just keeps on saying useless things from time to time doesn't he?"

She walks over to the direction of the exit, and I follow her, I don't want to get lost, I didn't pay attention last time though I probably should have. As she leads the way to where the others were, I get a better feel for just how large the 'tower' we are is, it isn't just some ordinary tower, it was like a castle-sized tower, one you'd find in those rich kingdoms.

Noticing the sunlight draping through a few openings I wondered how long I'd been asleep, "Hey, Meili how long have I been out?" "Since last night obviously? Why?" So after dropping and somehow getting sent back to the library, I've been asleep for the whole day, was the shock that great? Being awake for just a few minutes couldn't have possibly caused enough fatigue for that right?

"Ah, Natsuki-kun, we were wondering where you were all this time"  
"Subaru! Don't worry Betty like that, I suppose!"

The little girl with the curled up blonde hair tugged on my sleeves with a pouty face, she seems a little different than before? "Eh, sorry about that, I'm still a little fuzzy on what happened… so, have you guys found any leads on what we should do?" I ask the rest of them, and they just shook their heads, so I'm not going to be able to give this body back just yet, still, these occurrences are weird, did Natsuki Subaru have to deal with these as well? If he did, how did he do it…

"Well then, I'd say we best give the man a talkin to a second time, perhaps he'd lend us an ear this time aroun?"  
"Yeah, it'd be best if we don't talk back to his provocations like last time… we don't want anyone else getting hurt?"

Last time? Yeah, they did say something about going to question another guy, must be the red-haired man Meili was talking about, perhaps we can get a lead on where Natsuki Subaru ran off to, "Okay then, the faster we wrap this up the better, let's go" I say while waiting for someone to lead us off, it was Emilia who marched on forward, we all followed suite, but I was stopped, by Julius after a few steps.

"Julius, what's up?"  
"Could you have already figured out how to break through this fast? It was rather sudden to just head back in there"

"Ah, no no, I don't really know what to do, it just felt like, if I'm able to grasp the situation a bit better, maybe I'd be able to piece things together from what's left of my memory, perhaps get a hint on where to next look and all"

"I see… indeed, one night is not enough for either of us to really process anything. Then, let's round up what we do know right now"

Oh, yes, that will help a lot, I'm quite out of the loop about what's happening, Julius is such a dependable guy isn't he, "He told us about three different 'Reid's, the first one is 'The Dragon Sword - Reid' the one Reinhard wields and one that has been passed on for generations. The other was 'His body', the one buried in the ground, or so we concluded, it's hard to believe how someone as powerful as him were to fall, though with what happened when he was alive, it's not impossible that there could have been people stronger than him."

"..."

I'm lost, what is he talking about? Reid, Reinhard? I've never heard of those people, Dragon sword, dead and alive, the past, what's he talking about? Weren't we talking about our current situation, "Uh, Julius, yesterday, I kinda fell asleep accidentally, been out for a long time and I woke up in the library as well, I forgot to tell all of you, but I think something may be happening to memory, even now"

"Huh? Perhaps, it's the Gluttony's authority worsening, then we'll have to finish this faster, we can't bear losing you when we're this deep inside. Okay then, I'll repeat the events of last night. We both decided to go back and challenge Reid a second time, unlike last time, we were able to win somehow with a plan you hatched up, after that, he told us a riddle, three different versions of him, a sword, a corpse, and one last one, the key to progressing is that item, we were trying to find what that was, and that brings us to now…"

I see, something is happening, there has been a missing gap between the time I fell down the stairs, and the time I woke up a while ago, the person who's taken away Natsuki Subaru, he or she is acting again, they're doing things to tamper with my memories again, this isn't bad, "Julius, I think something's wron-"

We heard a yelp, though it was short and abrupt, we definitely heard something try to yelp, it was like someone trying to gulp for air, but stopped halfway, "..." The two of us looked to each other, that voice was familiar, who was it again, "Little kid should'nt 've peeped…" we here strong footsteps, and something being dragged across the floor, it was coming from the edge of the hallway, where the others are supposed to have went.

"You… why are you here?!"

Julius, who seemed astonished, to say the least, slowly took a silver blade out of its placeholder, I hadn't noticed he was holding such a weapon before, he did say he was a knight, so it's natural for him to have a blade, "Who?" Before Julius could process my question, someone appeared from the corner, "Yo shrimps" A man, endowed in red, with his chest left bare, he stood in front of us, holding a little girl in his arm.

"What.. what do you do?"

It was Meili, she was sleeping peacefully, perhaps she was tired from all the action and decided to take a nap, no, I'm just lying to myself, it's clear as day what's happened, the man in red had choked her, choked her to death, a brutal way to end a little girl's life, "Why did you do that to her?" I couldn't help but say out loud, I probably wasn't even thinking about it, it just rolled out of my mouth like that.

"Didn't we have a deal? Should'a been more careful now…"  
"No…"

I see Julius, eyes widened and in despair, "Julius, what's wrong, what's he talking about… why did he kill her? What was that deal we made with him!" I shake him, wanting to see justification to this cold-blooded murder, Julius just looks sickened, and disappointed at himself, "What we just talked about, no one was allowed to hear it but us, that's the deal we made with him…"

Just that, that little thing? He killed her, for that petty reason, just like that, it's like killing on a whim, that's not fair, not fair for her! "Ah, but 's not all…" The man dropped her on the ground, as if she was stone in a sea of pebbles, as if she didn't matter, and then started to walk towards us. I'm getting chills simply from that, I could hear Julius's blade tapping the ground, he was prepared for anything.

"If you lay a finger on Anastasia-sama-"  
"Nah, only touched the kid there… but I still need you"

I pointed towards me, to me specifically, he was going to kill me next, why? Why me? "Didn't we make the deal with you? Why do you need to kill me? Aren't me and Julius the exception?!" The man smirked, his tall stature complimented his intimidating looks, he could do whatever he wants, he's the stronger man, was he going to break the deal just because he wants to?

"Big mouth fer a guy with missin memories"  
"So what? Julius told me that we made the deal, is what he said not true?"  
"Oh, half of it is true alright… 'you' weren't part of the deal tho…"  
"What do you-"

"What's your name?"

"..."

I, my name, I… "I don't know my name… I don't have a name" I say that, not wanting to back down so easily, I'm going to die if he gets his way, "Exactly… the shrimps that challenged me that night… Julius n Subaru, you're not either of em aren'cha? Natsuki Subaru, Warlock of Sin or somthin? Yeah, he said it proud and loud, you're not that guy, I can tell jus by lookin at ye" He stared down deep into my soul, it felt as if my will had shattered, he's going to kill me, I'm going to die.

"What are you talking about, this is Subaru! He's being affected by an authority so his memories are getting erased as we speak"  
"Listen 'ere shrimp. This ain't a problem 'f memory or not… this guy ain't the guy I saw, may be his body, but it's a different soul all together…"

"What…? What do you mean?"  
"He's a lost soul, ain't no name, ain't no memories, the guy you came with last night, it ain't this guy…"

At that moment, I felt my life flash right before my eyes, before Julius could really do anything, before he could question him any further, it had already happened, I felt something warm upon my neck as it drizzled down to my chest. It felt viscous, sticky, is this… blood? Ah yes, it's blood, blood from my neck, that one that's been sliced in half in a fraction of a second, in a moment, I'd have lost consciousness, and the next, I'd be dead, it hurt, but not as much as I thought it was, still, I'm going to die, for real this time, heh, how unlucky am I.

"Subaru! You… you'll pay for this"  
"Didn't I tell ya? That ain't the same Subaru, and even if it were, it's yer problem for talking unguarded..."

The man sighs out of boredom and turns around, waving his hand, "See ya back there, not that ye got anywhere else ta go"

* * *

A/N

HOLY FUCKITY FUCK BOI! WE GETTING SEASON 2!

Ahem, excuse me for my language… This is going to be great, I'm hearing people say it'll be released very soon, perhaps Fall 2019. I woke up that Saturday morning with no expectations. The announcement literally came out 5 mins after I got out of bed, I could've had a heart attack right there and then, I'm still shivering thinking about it now…

Managed to do the chapter in a week! Yay! Anyway, It's short since nothing was really supposed to happen anyway? Okay, it was quite difficult to write the misunderstanding that happened between Amnesia-baru and Julius, but it worked out somehow, hopefully, the next chapters go smoothly...

 **Spooky Sharma**

 **Nope, I wouldn't sue you for that. But I would surely sue you if you decide to stop this fanfiction. I just can't describe the amount of anxiety I have to deal with and the patience I have to keep so that I could read the next update of my favorite Warlock of Sin.**

Please do sue me doubly if that happens, I'm a man of my word and I've set out to finish what I've started. And thanks, I really do enjoy writing when I'm not experiencing a writer's bloc.


	36. Chapter 33: Dependence

**Warlock of Sin. Arc 3: Linking the Past and The Present**

 **Chapter** **33: Dependence**

Why… Why am I back here again?

"Ah, Subaru, there you are, I was worried when I couldn't find you"

This isn't supposed to happen, I'm supposed to be dead, my life should have ceased to exist. I vividly remember everything that happened, I definitely died, I definitely felt it, the pain, the fear, I felt it all… so why, why did I come back, to here of all places!

"Subaru? Something the matter?"  
"..."

That was no dream, no, it can't be a dream, it's not possible, saying that's a dream is not enough to explain all of this. I've woken up in this exact same spot three times, I didn't notice it at first, but it's all just like the first time, I thought I was living onwards, moving forward but, whatever was happening that time, whatever I've told them that time, whatever I've experienced that time, it's all gone, I've gone back in time.

"Subaru~?"  
"...Sorry Emilia, I kinda dozed off here last night while trying to find some clues, sorry for worrying you"

I look towards Emilia and Julius who's come to pick me up just like before, they don't know about Natsuki Subaru being gone, so right now, they still think I'm him. I hope you don't mind Subaru, but I'll be using your name for a bit, so that I can solve this mystery and get back to you. The feeling of death is all too familiar, it felt like this body has succumbed to it many, many times, perhaps this isn't an unusual thing for Natsuki Subaru, to be able to harness such a power and still go on, he must be a guy with a will of steel.

"So, where's everyone else?"  
"They're all waiting downstairs while we were searching for you"  
"Okay then, let's head back"

I said as I lead the way towards the door. Remembering the way from last time isn't very hard, I've only been here twice, but it's the only memory my mind has, so it isn't hard to recall, this time, I'll be sure to survive long enough to see what will come.

After meeting up with everyone, we had a little discussion on what our next course of action is, thanks to all the information I've gained last time, I'm able to understand the situation much more clearer. To proceed on, we have to beat the red-haired man, Reid, a sword saint from the ages, a formidable foe that not even the likes of both Natsuki Subaru, the warlock, and Julius could defeat, a man that could chop off my head in a mere instant, a terrifying person.

I suggested to them all that we just stay put for now until we're all recovered, thankfully they agreed and thought it was the best course of action, this should give me time to calm myself down and think up of something to bring back Natsuki Subaru.

"That being said, I think it's best if we kept on searching for more clues, shall we begin then?"

Emilia proposed, it's not like there was anything better to do, so everyone agreed. Anastasia, Emilia went to check the library once more while Julius was going to go to the 'first' trial room, a place I haven't been to, so I don't really know where he's going, but he tried to start a conversation before leaving, to which I abruptly told him, "Let's talk about 'it' later Julius"

"Hmm, If you say so"

And so with that Julius left, the danger of Reid suddenly showing up has been dealt with, now, is Meili. I don't know what triggered her to push me down the stairs, but the only way to find out is for it to happen again. "Nhhh…" I feel someone tugging by my sleeve, and I look down, "Beatrice?" She gives me a wary look and asks, "What's this you're going to talk about, I suppose?"

"Hmm? Sorry Beatrice, I can't be betraying my man Julius that easily now…"

She gives me the stink eye, and then pouts away, "It seems you favor that man over Betty, I suppose, as your spirit, I'm disheartened, you're a failure as a contractor, I suppose!" Her body shivers as if she's about to bawl her eyes out, I absolutely can't have that happening, not at all! "Come on, Beatrice, you should respect other people's privacy you know?! I'll tell you all about it when I get the chance okay?"

"Hmph, that's not enough I suppose"  
"H-Huh?"  
"If Subaru does what he always does to calm Betty down, perhaps Betty shall consider it"

What I always do? Shit, what does he do to calm her down, that's a question I don't know the answer to! Think, how would one naturally calm a little girl down, what's the most natural approach to this, "Pat…" Without thinking, I pat her head, it was an instinctive reaction, before I could realize it, it had already happened, what's going to happen no- "Hmph, that will suffice, I suppose"

Releasing my hand from her head, I screamed internally at the chance of that being right, one wrong step and my cover would've been blown, going on without revealing my amnesia is a little, no, it's 'very' difficult, but I have to prevail, this will all be over within an instant.

"Betty won't question you any further on this topic, I suppose"  
"Really? Thanks, Beatrice!"  
"Though I will ask, who is this Beatrice, I suppose?"

"Huh?"

What was that sudden question? Who is Beatrice? Isn't she Beatrice? She is Beatrice, no doubt about it, blonde hair, frilly magenta dress, it's no doubt, "You're Beatrice, my contracted spirit? Who else is Beatrice?" I ask as if confused, I truly am, there should be no reason she should be asking this question, right?

"Of course, I am Beatrice, but to you, I am not Beatrice, I suppose…"  
"What? What does that mean?"  
"Beako…"

Huh? Beako?

"Where has that frivolous nickname you've dubbed me with gone to, I suppose? Last I've heard, you couldn't stop calling me that even for a second, Beako! Beako! You went, what's with the 'Beatrice' all of a sudden? Huh, tell me, what happened to 'Beako' the precious name that Subaru has given me… what happened to Betty's precious Subaru… Who are you…"

I felt a chill go down my spine, just when I thought I've diverted my suspiciousness away, it comes biting back at me the next second. A nickname, formalities used by people who've shared a close bond, there was no way in hell I could have guessed that, I'm not Subaru, so I would have never known.

"I… I am…"

I still don't have an answer for that, this is the second time I've been asked this question, and I don't know how to answer that, it's kind of frustrating, "I don't know… but I do know one thing, and it's that I'm not Natsuki Subaru…" I saw full out, no intention on hiding anything, I'll lay everything out to her, it's my only choice.

"Hmm…?"

"I'm not Natsuki Subaru… I don't' know where he's gone, but I'm in his place right now. I don't know who I am, I don't know where I am, and I don't why I'm here… I'm trying to find him, so that I can return his body, this isn't mine to keep after all…"

"I understand, I suppose…"  
"Huh? You… understand?"

"You have lost your memories? Or rather, you had none the first time you woke up, am I correct?"  
"Y-Yes, I woke up with no memories in the library and Emilia and Julius found me…"

"Seeing that you know our names, you've already died once, am I right?"  
"Yes!"

I shout out loud by accident, she knows? Does she know about this power that I have experienced? Then, could it mean, "Do you remember what happened-" "Sadly, I do not, I suppose. That power is exclusively Subaru's own, she probably remembers… but that doesn't matter right now, I suppose" She grabs my hands and drags me towards the door, "We're going somewhere more secluded, I suppose…"

.

I was dragged out to another room, a room I haven't been before so I made note of the path there, "So, tell me what happened, I suppose…" Beatrice sat by the edge of the room, leaning back on the wall, very nonchalant, just like she would usually act the first time we met. Such a difference is caused just by me not being Subaru, indeed, he was a special person to everyone here, "I've, as you said, 'returned by death'... a total of two times. Once, I was pushed off the spiraling staircase, and the second time, I was killed off for listening to the secret 'Subaru' had with Julius…"

"Do you know who killed you, I suppose? Perhaps knowing that would help us…"  
"Meili the first time, and Reid the second…"  
"Meili? Betty understands why that man would kill you, but her?"

True, even I'm baffled on why she would do that, "Does she hold some sort of grudge towards us or something? Then again, she is an assassin, did she just feel like killing me on the spot? People don't get those kinds of impulses right?" No, what am I thinking, of course, they wouldn't, no person would do such a thing. "Well, perhaps you taking down Elsa could be a reason, I suppose…"

"Elsa? She did say something about that person last time we talked, though she just mentioned her… who is she?"  
"We don't really know their relationship I suppose, we've never asked her… though, they most likely were close, it wouldn't be hard to think it's hatred she's feeling"

"Was this Elsa, another assassin? Like Meili?" Beatrice nodded, birds of a feather flock together, it'd be weird if she wasn't an assassin. "Indeed, though I'd say she was a much more troublesome assassin, I suppose, splitting open bowels, rubbing warm blood all over herself, she's an animal… it's good that we have disposed of her…"

She must be a really scary person, I'm glad I don't have to mess with her, "That being said, is there anything else out of the ordinary? Perhaps, something linked to your amnesia, I suppose?" Ah yes, the amnesia, of course, that's the main problem here, "I don't remember much other than it happened in the library, I was reading a book, and someone else was there with me, it was last night… before, you all expected it to be Reid, but I doubt he's the type to do something like that. He feels more like a muscle brain…"

"True… then if it isn't him, could there be another person we are unaware of in the tower, I wonder?"  
"Ah, I do remember Shaula saying something about feeling something when we returned from the 'first trial' if that is any help?"

"Well, it doesn't really tell us much besides confirming the presence of another person, I suppose, then again, that in itself is enough information, the next step is finding this person…" It's the only logical step to take, I can't think of doing anything but catch that person, "Okay, so what's our first course of action then, Beatrice?

"It's already too late to do anything now, I suppose…"  
"H-Huh?"

I turn to see her face, conflicted and worried, did something happen, "Listen, you're not Subaru so Betty doubts you know how to fight, and Betty herself can't protect you for long… if worse comes to worst, we're all going to die soon…" What? I'm going to die again? We? What does she, "Run!"

"...!"

Without even a second to waste, I dash over to an open door as I hear what could only be crackling of ice, I was afraid to turn back so I just kept running forward.

.

Forward and onward. I didn't know what was chasing me, I didn't even care, all I had to do was run. I know it would be a futile attempt, but just as long as I can live for a little longer, if I could, then I'll be able to figure something out, I'll be able to find out a clue, even a single clue is fine! So I didn't stop at anything, that was until something stopped me, "Woah! Y-You gotta be kidding me!"

I stare downwards at the spiraling abyss that had once taken my life, "To think that'd I'd end here again…" "Move, I suppose!" I felt something light grab onto my waist as it dragged me straight towards the gaping hole in the center of the staircase, "W-W-Wait!" "No time, Ul-Kardese!" She flipped us around so that our feet touched the wall and our faces stared directly downwards, I also saw a purple streak of light in front of me.

"What… what is that!?"

I see something massive, white and pristine heading straight for us, at an incredible speed! "Hang on-" It slammed into the wall of purple light, was that some sort of barrier? It should be, it's stopping that massive iceberg from coming any closer to crushing us into bits, "Hkk-" Her foot was implanted onto the wall behind us, and I noticed a crack forming under it, we're in trouble, aren't we.

"Get down!"

As the wall continued to crack under her feet, she shoved me down the center of the staircase, I made a freefall straight to my doom, "Shiit!" "Quiet would you, I suppose!?" I felt Beatrice getting shoved right behind me, we were speeding down even further. I look up and see a blinding flash of light, ice reflecting whatever light there was in the room down towards me, and a radiant figure appeared, "E-Emilia?!" "No need to state the obvious, I suppose!"

Beatrice clutched herself onto me as she brought her balled up fist into the air, "Al-Minya!" I circle of light engulfed whatever was in front of us, she was preparing to counter the next move with a move of her own, "Ul… Huma!" I heard her voice, shaking and angry, just what was wrong with her all of a sudden, and where was everyone else?!

"Graah!"

A surge of large purple bolts shot out and smashed onto the giant icicle that was crashing its way towards us, it's not getting any slower, even with all the force Beatrice is exerting, "We're not going to make it!" I cried out. The icicle closed in as we fell down faster and faster, Beatrice grabbed on me tightly, "No… At the very least, you can make it!" And with force equal to that of a large animal, she hauled me over her and slammed me into an opening, my arm broke upon impact.

"Beatrice-"

And she was crushed by the high-speed icicle before I could even call out to her, "Arrgh…" I suddenly felt the surge of pain from being slammed straight into a wall without any notice. I drag myself up, I have to run, run until I find something, even though there may be nothing left to find, at this rate, she could just as well destroy the whole tower.

"Oh no…" I flopped down, it seems my legs were also heavily damaged, now I can't even walk, still, I can't just give up- "Ghh…" I hear a growl from above me, and I see Emilia, her face twisted with rage, I shuddered, a sight I didn't want to see, "Just… just kill me already…" I give up, there's nothing left to find, I might as well just get this over with.

Drooping my head down in defeat, I offer it to her, the faster I'm done with this, the faster I'm done with everything, I just want to give this body back to Natsuki Subaru, I don't want to suffer like this anymore- "Hkk! Gh… Akh!" I hear someone choking and I immediately looked up.

Emilia was being strangled, strangled by shadows emerging from me, no, from my something on me, "H-Huh?" I see on my chest, a purple crystal that I have yet to notice, I thought it was some ordinary necklace that Subaru owned, but it was spouting out shadows that are attacking Emilia, "Ghraaaaa!" Emilia flailed around as she struggled to get the shadows of herself, though she was strong Slowly, one by one, she pried them off, I was running out of time.

"Gotta… gotta run away…"

With my broken leg, I slowly go down the stairs but it was no use, the crystal that was attacking Emilia is still on my chest, I can't go unless I let it go, and if I let it go, she'll be able to chase me, this deadlock, i'm dead either way!

Emilia had already taken off most of the shadows choking her neck and is proceeding to glare at me with all her might, it's over now isn't it? I could feel death wrapping around me as she drew closer, it was a nice cold embrace, not warm, cold, it was chilling, but relaxing at the same time.

"..."

"Rgghhh…"

"..."

And then I was slammed out the tower, without dying. "What… Whaaaat?!"

Without a second thought, she chased straight after me, just like a beast would do to its prey, she's completely lost her mind! "Emilia, please snap out of it!" She didn't listen, in fact, she didn't seem to understand a word I said, she's gone berserk!

She formed a bridge of ice to follow me downwards and she was accelerating at an extreme speed, at this rate, I'm going to die.

"Please, do something! Help me!" I say to the crystal in my neck, I might have been crazy, but there was nothing else I could do but freefall down towards the sand dunes, but I was wrong. "Huh?"

The shadows that previously strangled Emilia's delicate neck, enveloped me now, going all the way up to my eyes, and then I felt a sharp pain throughout my body, it was piercing my body, digging inside of me, and the pain felt surreal, "Gghhh!" I felt something sprout from behind my back, large and wide, wings? Not the kind a bird would have, it feels scaly, and haaaard!

They suddenly flapped and I stopped midair as Emilia plummeted down the side of the tower, though she wasn't done yet, grabbing onto the edge of her ice bridge, she managed to stop herself from an anticlimactic end and decided to chase after me once again, this time, upwards instead of downwards.

"She's coming back, what do I- hey… I can't move?!"

It seems the shadows have completely taken over my nervous system, I'm unable to control my bodies actions anymore and I was flying out of control, the shadows couldn't fly either and we crashed straight into the tower again, this time, headfirst.

"Hurts, it hurts! Aaagghhh… damn it…!"

I clutched my head which was bleeding from the immense pain, perhaps this is where I finally end, huh? Yeah, I can already see Emilia stepping in, it's finally over, finally, "Look at me... please…" Her voice spoke to me, unlike last time, it was weak and shriveled, like the voice of someone who's just done crying her eyes out. I look up to the person's voice and I see Emilia, no, it's not Emilia, it's someone different.

"Please… just wait a little longer… Subaru… Subaru will be back so, please… just a little longer, I beg of you…"

While Emilia wore a white dress this girl wore dark gray, they were opposites, just like day and night. And to contrast her usual happy looks, or the current rageful glare she has, this girl seemed week and shriveled, shaky and fragile, "I'm sorry for asking this… but we need Subaru back… he can stop this… And when you go back…" She collapses onto me, I couldn't catch her, both my arms are now broken, my eyes can barely see straight and my back is about to be split in half at any moment, all I could do was let her fall onto me.

"Tell Betty… Beatrice… tell her to watch everyone next time, don't split up… Pandora… she's here…"

"Pandora? Who's that…? Hey… hey, tell me! Tell me please, I need to kn-"

And I died, a spear of ice had launched itself through the both us, sharp, and cold...

* * *

A/N

Wooo, I did it, I didn't take a whole month to finish! We're closing in on the main dish of this arc, closer and closer!

 **Slydino**

 **Wonderful chapter. I'm not sure how I feel about all this memory loss, but I'll trust in your judgment. Anyway, great job and keep up the good work. Can't wait for the next chapter.**

I was originally going to not include memory loss, but since the story had a 5-month pause in the past, the Web novel started to catch up and revealed the reason for his memory loss which I found intriguing, and so we arrive here. I will continue, forward and onwards!


	37. Chapter 34: Call me ---

**Warlock of Sin. Arc 3: Linking the Past and The Present**

 **Chapter** **34: Call me -**

"..."

A white room was presented in front of him, a room filled with nothingness, blank, unoccupied, it reminds him of the trial rooms, but something was different. This was no room, to all this a room would be an understatement, this was it's own world, it's own dimension, this was not something that can be held by mere walls, instead of a room, it reminded him of a castle, the castle of a certain witch.

"So… what's the catch here?"

Being presented with such a memorable feeling he couldn't help but act the way he did, but this isn't the time for that. Though the feeling may be memorable, the place sure isn't, "Never been to this place before so I'm sure to get lost… perhaps a guide wouldn't hurt?" He said to the white void, as if expecting a reply, but all he got was the echoes of his voice bouncing around.

"Yo…"

In the next moment, a boy stood in front of him, young and innocent, just as all kids should be. He stared at the boy and the boy stared back, the boy asked him, "Have we met before? Do you know who we are?" Subaru placed his hand onto his chin as he enters into deep thought, looking at the boy at first glance, he can say with certainty that he's never met him in his entire life, that is without a doubt the barebacked facts.

"No, I've never met such a dashing and handsome boy before"

To say that he's never met him, that is completely right, but, to say that he doesn't know who he is, that, is a different question, "You're pretty egotistical aren't you?" The boy asked Subaru as he scratched his black hair, they were very reminiscent of something. What the boy said, it didn't really make much sense, to reply in that way, was not normal.

"I have been told that I could be a candidate for Pride, though I'd rather be a bit of everything you know?"  
"We don't really follow? But We guess being a bit of everything isn't too bad"

The boy smiled towards Subaru, it was something he's never seen before. The boy walked towards him, and asked, "So, do you know us? We haven't met yet so we're guessing not, ah but we do know you, we know a lot about you, in fact, we know everything about you… it may sound weird but, we…" To the boy who was walking around him in circles, Subaru gave a fed up look.

"Onii-san?"  
"You're doing a terrible imitation you know…"

"Huh?"

Subaru walked over and crouched down to get to the boys level, "First of all, I don't engage in conversations, I let people talk to me" To that, the boy blinked his eyes and replied "But Onii-san was the one who talked first" "I wasn't talking to you, I was talking to the whiteness…" The boy snickered at Subaru's remark, but Subaru kept on staring at the boy.

"Second, I don't remember having a smile on my face when I was your age… in fact, it was precisely at this age that I stopped smiling… do you really know everything about me? Seriously, talk about a let down, I was hoping to get some of that mirror action going on, but you wouldn't even qualify for that…"

"Ah, really? And we tried really hard to-"

Before the boy could speak up his next word, he was kicked in the gut, he was sent flying away as Subaru's eyes looked on him with indifference "Ughwa…" He fell down with a 'thump' a few meters away, he weakly tried to get up as he opened up his mouth once more, "Do you really hate yourself that much… Onii-san?"

"Hmm, not really, just thought that I'd give myself a punch in the face to help myself snap out of it… that being said, why don't you remove that mask?"  
"Heeh, we guess we won't be complete until we get all of Onii-san, that's a little sad, but it can't be helped we guess"

The boy got up and started walking towards Subaru, "Geh, I didn't remember myself to be this resilient, you sure you're imitating me correctly?" The boy just smiled as he kept on closing the distance between the themselves, "This place is like a 'safe zone', you know, like the ones you see in games, you can still fight but you don't take damage…"

"Ah, I see, so it's like some sort of lobby…"

The boy, still approaching Subaru, started to pick up the pace, from walking, he started to run, and his hands started to aim for him, "..." Even though the boy was small, he managed to close the gap in one second, if this were the old Subaru, he'd have been done for in this moment, though this isn't that same old Subaru, "No matter how fast you are… those little hands are just too short to reach anything…"

A flash of purple light appeared as Subaru swung his arms towards the boy, cutting off both his hands in a fraction of second, "You underestimate me, Louise…" With his Minya blade disappearing, he pointed towards the boy in a way that seemed like scolding, "I was hoping to beat the crap out of you to get my memories back but it seems they've already returned, seriously, what is this place"

"Onii-san is really mean isn't he… this place is the Od Laguna's Cradle, a place where souls get cleansed and washed off, to be clean and free of impurity, this is the resting place of all the souls of the world, or atleast, that's what we know of it. We're bound by what we eat after all…"

"Hmmm, that's really interesting… now, if you wouldn't mind, I'd like you to show you're real face, and seeing that you can even look like me, I'm guessing that last time wasn't you either, so show me the real you"

"Onii-san is smarter than he looks isn't he?"  
"Just show yourself already…"

And so with a sigh, the boy sighed in defeat as his hair started to droop downwards. Subaru can hear bones reforming from inside the person's body, color sprouting from his black hair, and his hazel colored eyes had changed into a bright lapis, with eyes that stared deep into his soul, "Hello again, Onii-san, it's nice to meet you again after a few months tsu~"

In front of him, stood the boy, no, it's not a boy, it's a girl, with hair draping across the floor, with skin so flawless it can reflect sunlight and shine like diamonds, with eyes that are as blue as the sky, and with a hungry smile that would put a hyena to shambles. With all that, she smiled towards Subaru who could only see her from a distance.

"You can call us Rui-chan, tsu~"

* * *

"..."

No time, I have no time to lose.

"Hey Emilia, Julius, were you looking for me?" I greet the two who pass by the library entrance as I make my way towards the 'green room', time is of the utmost importance, I also have to keep everyone in check. This Pandora, it seems she's the reason Emilia acted the way she did back then, and perhaps it explains Meili's sudden impulse as well.

"Ah Subaru, yes we were looking for you"  
"Quite shocking that you'd be in the library at a time like this"

Emilia gave me a relieved smile while Julius just waved with a good morning, these guys, I have to save them, the friends of Natsuki Subaru, I have to stop the impending doom that is about to befall on them, "I need you guys to come with me for a bit, I have something I need to tell everyone"

"Hmm? Okay…"

The two looked at each other and followed me as I hurried through the halls, I felt like a mouse going through a small maze, always retracing my steps back as I reach a dead end, perhaps, Natsuki Subaru wouldn't have to just rely on sheer luck for this, he seems like a capable guy. "Subaru, could you have found some clue to the next trial?"

Julius asked me, and I shake my head rather dejectedly, "No, sadly that will have to wait… we have more pressing matters in our hands at the moment" His face starts to turn rather worried as I say that, but he doesn't pry in too much as I'm that's obviously what I'm going to be discussing with everyone, keeping things a secret won't help anyone, I'll tell them everything even if they don't believe me.

"Beatrice! Come over here, we need to talk!" We open up a few doors before we see her running down towards us, "What is it, I suppose? Did something happen?"

"Anastasia, Meili, where are they?"  
"We're right here, Natsuki-kun"

I peek a little behind Beatrice and I see the other two approaching us, both a little sluggish to approach me, "Great, you're all here, I have something I need to tell you all so please gather around" As I say that, they all gathered around, together around me. I notice that Shaula was not here, but I don't think that matters at all, she isn't part of the original party that came here with Natsuki-Subaru, so I think it'd be best to leave her out of this. "Hmmm~ Something interesting happen, Onii-san?" The little Meili chimed in last minute, not wanting to be left out.

"I know you guys all are tangled with this problem right now, about finding a cure for 'gluttony'... and I know I'll just be adding more problems but it'd be best to just address it right here right now…"

"What could you possibly be talking about, I suppose?"

"Natsuki Subaru's memories… they're all gone…"

.

Unbeknownst to them all, the shadows have already moved in the backstage.

"So, has anything happened, I suppose?" The woman, glimmering of white asked.

"You're being rather impatient my dear... though we can find out if he's returned, it is impossible to tell how many times he's returned. And it's not the time to reveal ourselves yet, so we can't ask him directly…" Another woman replied to her, her platinum hair swayed, even though there was no breezer in the room, they were in an inclosed space after all.

"..."

"It's quite funny when you think about it this way though, we could've been having this same conversation, over and over again, without us even knowing, such is the implications of his 'Return by Death'. And sadly, it isn't us that will be the ones gaining anything, but the us of the 'future', his future to be exact, to sacrifice all we can for our own future, that's the only way to beat such an overpowered ability..."

"You say that as if yours wasn't overpowered enough…"

"Oh please dear, both you and I know very well that my power has limitations… a power without limitations, to be able to use your power as much as you like without restrictions, that is the definition of an overpowered ability. Everything has limits, whether it'd be the strength of the sword saint, or the knowledge of a witch, everything has its peak… but the boys ability, it knows no bounds…"

"..."

"That being said, the only thing that limits him from using it is his own sanity and inner morals, once he discards that, I'm sure he would be the most fearsome monster that has ever existed… something like that, entices me…"

The woman licks her lips on that thought, an action that creeped out her companion, but she wasn't exactly in a position to say anything, she was on the receiving end after all. "With all that being said, let's go and cause a riot shall we dear…?"

Her companion looked at her questioningly, and replied with a stark "How?" to which the woman wagged her finger to, "The sage's apprentice is a rather simple minded creature wouldn't you say?" With a devious smile plastered on her face, the woman turns to face the stairway that leads downwards to where everyone else was located.

"Even four centuries later you're still the same as always, it's despicable, you know?"  
"I'd rather you used a more glamorous word dear, but oh well, we're wasting precious time…"

* * *

"So you're saying the reason for Natsuki-kun's memory loss must be linked to one of the books that he tried to read in the library last night?" They took it rather calmly, though, they didn't really believe me at first. "Yes, I'm sure of it, there isn't really any other possibility, as far as I can tell from my remaining memories, there was nothing else that could have done it.. Except"

"Except?" she replied.

"I'm not sure if this is going to help, but I've been warned to tell you guys that someone named 'Pandora' is behind the scenes… perhaps she has ties with this as well..." They all tilted their heads, it seemed none of them knew who that was, well, except for Emilia and Beatrice, they seemed to turn a little gloomy hearing that, it seems we might be able to finally get some progress going, that is, until Anastasia spoke out again, "Tell me, 'Natsuki-kun', how are we gonna make sure you ain't lyin bout any of this? For all we know, you could be the shapeshifter Capella who decided to follow us over here…"

Shapeshifter? Indeed, I expected something like this, I was just hoping it wasn't Anastasia asking, or Meili, because if it wasn't, then I'd be able to convince them otherwise, "I understand, but sadly there is nothing I can prove to you, all I can ask is that you trust me…" She looks a little dejected, not being able to confirm anything, it just makes everything even more confusing.

"Well then, if we can find out why he went to read that book of the dead, or maybe even who's book it was, then perhaps…"  
"Ah, if it's about that, I think I have something to say about that…"

They all faced me once more, highly anticipating, "Julius" I called out as I faced towards the man in purple, "The thing you and Subaru did that night, you remember that right?" Hearing me say this, his eyes widened, "You can't be saying…" "Yes, the book he was searching, it's probably linked to what you two had found out that night…" He curled up a fist into his palm, while letting out an understanding, "I see…"

"Hmm, yes, it's highly likely that could be the case. I'm sorry Anastasia-sama, but I'll have to dismiss you're suspicion"  
"Even if you dismiss it, you just got me even more curious now, what's this thing you and 'Natsuki-kun' did last night?"

"That is…"

Julius struggles to keep up a straight face, he understands what he can and can't say, and so I step up, "I'm sorry, Anastasia-san, but neither Julius nor Natsuki Subaru can't say a word of it. Please, I ask you to trust us, if you can do that, I will assure you, I'll explain everything in due time…" She looks annoyed by this, and opens up her mouth again, "I'm not the kinda girl who'd allow bein left out of things, if ya really want me to trust ya, then why don't ya spit out this thing bout Julius and Natsuki-kun doing things, you're not Natsuki-kun so it should be fine right?"

"I really want to, I really do, as a royal election candidate, I think you're very capable, if I could, I'd like everyone to help in this too, but… if it costs you're lives, then I'd rather not…"

"Please, Anastasia-sama, what he's saying is all true, I understand you're frustrated by this… you've always been the one pulling the strings so this is a new experience for you, but you must understand that there's nothing we can do about it right now…"

"..."

She gave a troubled expression, but sighed it off, "I understand… guess we really are stuck for now, aren't we?" I nod to her, thanking her for her cooperation, "But, I've still got one more thing I gotta ask… this Pandora? Who told you about her?" A question after another, and this time, it was one I couldn't answer because I truly, didn't know, but, I can't just say that, can I.

"Betty can confirm the person, I suppose, he most likely doesn't even know her. She's not a bad person, she's helping us after all…"  
"That doesn't really answer the question… who is this person, is what i'd like ta know?"

"That's… a secret" Emilia butted in, strong and upfront, Anastasia blinked her eyes a bit before asking, "Aren't we an alliance? To think that'd you'd still keep things a secret even after breaking the barriers between us…" "No, it's not that kind of secret, Anastasia-san" Emilia said, with a calm voice, "It's not my secret, nor is it Beatrice's, it's Subaru's secret, it's not something we can tell you without his permission…"

"..."

She looked a bit conflicted by it, but she nevertheless lets it go, saying that "there's nothin that can be done when ya put it like that", I'm glad she understands.

"Now, that we're all cleared up with that, Pandora you said? Who is she, do you anything about that person?" Julius asked, wanting to move on with the conversation. I shook my head, telling him that I don't know anything more than her name, though, Emilia and Beatrice took over right after, "I've heard about her from mother, I suppose, but Betty knows nothing more other than that she's a witch…"

"A witch?" Anastasia asks, and she nods, "The current world is under the delusion that there is only one witch, I suppose. Her existence was so great that they've disregarded the possibility of another, it's rather foolish…" The three other than Emilia and Beatrice were quite surprised by this, I couldn't exactly grasp the severity of the situation so I just stayed silent.

"But, for four-hundred years, she's been alive for that long? Is it really possible?"

"I can confirm that she's alive, she has attacked my hometown before, a few hundred years ago, and she doesn't look like she's old at all, so if she was a baby four hundred years ago and a young woman a hundred years ago, then she should be a middle aged adult now right?"

"That kind of logic won't work with witches, I suppose"

"But still, it's a lil bit hard to believe someone's been alive for that long"  
"You're looking at one right now, I suppose"  
"O-Oh, my apologies"

With the others finally getting aboard, we can move on freely now and proceed with a plan, "Subaru, now that you've told us what we needed to know, we're gonna think up of a plan right?" Emilia asked me with a determined face, and I smiled back, "Yeah, I've already got one ready, all we need is to just execute it"

"Hm! I'll be sure to help out where I can Subaru"  
"Ah, but I think it's best you guys call me differently…"

"It doesn't really feel right being called Subaru, it feels a little unfair for you to be treating me like him, so instead, why not call me a different name"  
"A different name? Like what?"  
"Uh let's see… you can call me… Konrad…"

* * *

A/N

Wooo, I did it, I didn't take a whole month to finish! But it took 20 days which is about 3 weeks, well not like I can do anything about it just yet. We're closing in on the main dish of this arc, closer and closer! Let's goo!


	38. Chapter 35: Two souls

**Warlock of Sin. Arc 3: Linking the Past and The Present**

 **Chapter** **35: Two souls**

"Kon...rad?"  
"Hmmm?"

"What made you choose that name, I suppose?" Beatrice looked at with a curious expression as we walked side by side towards the library, "Umm, no reason really. It was just the first thing that comes into mind when I was thinking of a name for myself… could it perhaps have already been taken?" She had a weird look on her face before shaking her head, "No, not really, I suppose, it's just it sounds similar to a really famous person four centuries ago"

"Eh, really now?"  
"Indeed, I suppose…"

"So, Natsuki… Konrad-kun? What's the plan here?" Anastasia peeped beside me, with her fox scarf dangling by her shoulders she asked me this question, "Though it is true I have a plan, I can't assure you guys that it'll be a sure shot one, guess it's times like these where you'd wish Subaru-san was the one here instead of me huh?"

"Of course not, we can't be as harsh as to think like that! Even though Subaru is amazing, I need to learn to stand up on my own, so having Konrad-san here is completely fine" Emilia replied with a face that harboured no negative emotions, she's an amazing person, they all are, "Alright then here is what we're going to do…"

They all huddled around, as I laid out the footwork for what shall hopefully be our salvation, I don't plan on overusing this body more than I already have, "It's rather simple but since we don't know who or what our opponent is, we'll have to always be on guard… and going by what Emilia and Beatrice said, she's going to be a very tough opponent to deal with so we're going to have to go on with care" They all nodded and agreed, a witch isn't something they want to deal with lightly, and I can understand that.

"From what I know, she may be able to control the actions of others, like, I'm not sure how to explain it but…"  
"Is 'Possession' perhaps what you're trying to explain? True that such a thing is possible, Subaru and I had saw it work and Subaru himself has experienced it"

"Hmm, perhaps it's something like that, but anyway, if any of us were to be caught up in that, then I'm not sure if we'll be able to bring you back, so avoid direct confrontation at all times…" There was a bit of side talk for a while but we soon continued with the plan, with Julius adding "Splitting up would most likely be a bad idea, having them pick us off one by one isn't something that we can have, we all have to survive each and every one of us"

"True, but even still, we need to maximise efficiency, so, I say we all pair up and search for Reid's book, once that happens, we all regroup and somehow, I'll somehow pull Subaru-san back out, somehow… it may not even work but…"

"Konrad"  
"H-Huh?"

Beatrice said my name in a rather serious tone, but unlike that harsh tone, she held a smile on her face, so did Emilia, and the rest, they all looked at me and told me, "It'll be fine, we know you can do it, we trust you…" It meant a lot, having people trust me, "You guys are really weird, trusting a guy right of the bat you know?"

"Hmm, well we trust Subaru a lot and he's veeery weird too you know? Like, really really weird at times" Emilia said with a bright smile, and I chuckled back, "Haha, yeah, Subaru-san seems like a really fun guy and he's very important to you all… I'll try my best- no, I'll definitely get him back, definitely…"

"Yeah, we're counting on you..."

* * *

"Rui… well, I guess that's one way to say your name…"  
"Hmm? Do you prefer Louise then, Onii-san"  
"Nah, I think Rui would be better for simplicity sake, already know a person whose name sounds quite similar to yours"

"Heeh, then Rui-chan it is, tsu~"

Subaru looked onwards to the girl with hair dripping through the ground, it reminded him of a certain character from a movie back home, it was a moment to reminisce now that he has his old memories back, it was a relief having them back, now he doesn't have to worry about that ever looming void that was present in the back of his head.

"Well then, this place is the 'Od Lagna's Cradle' quite a fancy name, and its purpose is to 'cleanse souls', it's a nice place and all, but let's get to the point, how the hell do you get out of this place?"

Subaru asked the little girl in front of him in a tone that was befitting of banter, whether he had actually turned to see her as a person worthy of banter, or that he's simply disregarded her as a threat, he spoke like that anyway. Rui turns her head around, as if looking for something, "Well, we don't see any exits, so we're not really sure how to get out…"

"Well then I'd like to know how you got out of here to attack Priestella, clearly you can't attack us if you're all the way here now?"  
"Ah, well no, that's a little different, tsu~ We've never actually left this room, we either bother Onii-chan or Nii-sama so we can traverse the other side…"

"So basically you can't come out of this place physically because?"

"We don't know, tsu~" Seeing that the little girl was just as clueless about the situation as he is, he couldn't help but sigh. He turned his gaze around the room and then back to her, and he asked another question, "Say, are you able to see what's going on right now in the tower? Like, do you have some sort of window you can peek out of?"

The girl shakes her head in denial, there was no such mechanism in this world of whiteness, "We didn't know there were people in the tower until you showed up, Onii-san, then again, we just found out now that we were in a tower, tsu~ We knew we were in a library, but nothing about a tower, thanks for the new information Onii-san"

Smiling eerily at Subaru, Rui took a step back and sat on the ground, twirling her hands in between the strands of her ever so long hair, it really looked like she needed a haircut, "Just how long have you been in here? Looking at how long your hair is, I'm gonna say it's a rather long time…" And indeed, with his question, he got a positive reply, Rui nodded her head in acceptance, "We've been here for a long time, tsu~ For how long, we don't know, age doesn't really exist here, so we won't grow old, but time still flows, so in a sense, whoever is in here becomes temporarily immortal, tsu~"

It's quite understandable when you think about it in a different way, what he is right now, he is incomplete, an incomplete Subaru, he has his mind, but he has no body, he is only a soul, "We don't age because we have no body to age… and yet, we still feel time because time is ever omnipresent… that's basically the rules of this place right? Though you can still use our authorities because they aren't bound to our physical bodies"

The whole thing was spot on, though there wasn't really anyone that could confirm what he said. "So Onii-san, you're acting rather lax in front of us don't you think? Tsu~" Rui tilted her head as she asked him this question, he didn't really seem to take the question very seriously, no, he didn't really seem to take 'her' that seriously, but he did reply to her, "Even if you did take my memories, I'm sure it'd just return to me anyway, the old ones did, so I'm sure they'll just get shot right back at me once you've eaten them…"

"Hmph, what a bummer, tsu~"

Subaru sat down on the ground across her. There really isn't much left he can do, try all he wants, he knows that all he can do now is wait for something to happen, though, in all honesty, "That's boring as heck… well it seems I'm going to be stuck in here with a hungry little dog for a bit…"

"A little rude, Onii-san"

The little girl in front of him, who was no doubt a threat previously, had joined him in his calm, lackluster wait for… well something to happen. He gazed at the girl, it's rather weird to think that such a child had been the Archbishop that had taken away his memories, of all his encounters, never has one been like this, and thus, as anyone would do when they see something new, he asked.

"Hey, Rui… why do you take people's memories away?"

Whether it was Betelgeuse and his one sided obsession towards the witch, or Regulus and his darn right egotistical view of the world and himself, or Sirius and her unyielding passion to spread love everywhere, they all had their goals and whatnot, so, similarly, Rui Arneb, she as well should have one, "Why take away the very existence of a person? What do you gain from doing that? Just what exactly are you after?"

To know your enemy, you have to know their goals, to be able to fight someone without regretting it, you must know what exactly why they fight, to fail to do that, would cause a sense of empty curiosity, 'Why did I fight them', 'Why did I kill them', you'd start thinking that they may have had more noble ideas and you were just getting in their way, so, to avoid all that Subaru asked.

"Onii-san… do you really think knowing will change anything? Tsu~"

With her eyes staring into his soul, she replies with a cold dry tone, it shook Subaru down to his core, "Whether or not you know what we want, what we strive for… we'll always oppose you, that's how things are meant to be, we want to stay true to our path, and you want to stay true to yours… it's the only way…" She says that with a face of indifference.

"..."

Perhaps it was the fact that she was a child, or that she was stuck here unable to leave, that made Subaru want to know her reasons, he thought 'maybe I could help her' but what she said was nothing shy of the truth, they have their own paths, and intersection would cause chaos to ensue, even so, "I still want to know, whether I'm able to convince you or not, is all secondary…"

"..."

She looked at him with deadpan eyes, she opened up her mouth to speak as she would, "You're unfair… Onii-san is really unfair… everyone is unfair, Onii-chan is unfair, Nii-sama is unfair, the whole world is unfair… unfairness, that's why we're eating everyone, that's why we're taking everything from everyone, and making it part of us, if something is unfair to someone then what if we put things together, then everyone will be us, then, everything will be fair… yes… we'll all be…"

Her voice slowly died as she ended her sentence, Subaru wasn't able to hear the end of it, but she wasn't done yet, "But even if the unfairness is gone, we're still stuck here, we've always been stuck here, forever and ever, ever since we were born, no matter how much we'd like to, we're always going to be here, forever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever! We'll never be let out, tsu~ Stuck here for eternity, that's our destiny... yes... hah... hahaha, and that's why we'll eat it out, we'll eat everyone! We'll eat them all so they know how we feel, so they know how we feel, so they know how we feel!"

As she inched in to what felt like madness, she halted her train of thought abruptly, and proceeded to look up at the sky, "Onii-chan and Nii-sama, their idiots, aren't they?" With the sudden shift of topic, Subaru's eyes twitched as he tried to focus his mind once again, "Instead of finding a way so that we could leave, they instead feed us, feed us with false hope, feed us with all these experiences, these memories, these lives… they feed us until we get full, and then they feed us more and more and more… they really don't get anything, tsu~"

The way she spills all her words out would make it seem like she's vomiting, taking out all the negativity she's pent up till now, all towards Subaru, "They give us life, they give us meaning, but what are we to do with such trivial things…" She suddenly slows down her pacing, making sure that what she's trying to say goes through to her audience, in this case, Subaru, "A good life, is what we want, but… all Onii-chan and Nii-sama is giving us, all their giving us is the illusion of a good life, all these people, they've already lived their lives but none of them satisfies us, none of them is enough, we're sure that if we ourselves go out there and try, we could make a good life for ourselves, if only…"

If only things were a little different, maybe she wouldn't have to be like this, "Then…" "Why don't you just bring us out? How funny, what happened to the 'kill on sight' attitude you had when you entered? Tsu~? Why are you suddenly acting all buddy buddy with us? Trying to get us to join you on what you think is 'right' didn't we already tell you? No matter what you do…" Nothing will change, she didn't need to say it, she's already done so before, repeating herself now would only show how unattentive her audience was.

"The embodiment of self-satiation… in the shape of a little girl… well, I've been dubbed the lolimancer for a reason, and it seems that i'll have to cast that aside…"  
"Heh? Such weak resolve, tsu~"

"It's as you said, nothing will change if I tried to convince you, that's because I don't understand you're pain, I don't understand what you've been through, so I won't be able empathize with you whatsoever, even if I tried, it'd just be me overstepping my boundaries, if that's your decision, then I'll respect it, to live for your own desires, it's a thing we all want to do, but just like you said, we'll oppose each other no matter the circumstances…"

"..."

Subaru closed his eyes with that, but she kept on staring at him, with eyes of disappointment, as if she wanted him to push forward, but alas, what he said was completely true, he had no right to judge her as he's in the dark about her situation, a fair person like that, isn't what she wanted, but she isn't in a place to ask for what she wants, "So, what are you going to do now, tsu~? Since our interests are conflicting, we won't be able to reach a satisfying conclusion don't you think?"

"What… are you talking about?"  
"The memories, tsu~ You came here to get them back, no?"

It finally struck to him, he's been preoccupied with the return of his own memories that he's completely forgotten about the original goal behind their current journey, to return the memories of the ones that were forgotten, "You… You have them all don't you…" Without answering him, without even uttering a word, she just grins, with her pure white teeth in full view.

"Tell me, how do I get their memories back"  
"Ara, Onii-san, we didn't say anything about having them did we?"

"Whether you have them or not doesn't concern me! Where are they and how do I bring them back to their previous owners?"

"..."

For a glimpse of a second, it seems as if she was sneering at him just for a split second, "Hnnn, the names and memories Nii-sama and Onii-chan eat… well, since they eat them, shouldn't it be in their stomachs, tsu~?" "What are you on about?" Subaru asked the girl as she twirled her head round and around.

"Just like 'stands' are a manifestation of one's fighting spirit… Authorities are a manifestation of one's inner most desires, and similarly, they are based around one's environment and condition… a man who's hungry wishes to not be hungry, a man who's thirsty wishes not to be thirsty, and a man who's suffering… simply wishes to die…"

"..."

Twitching his eyes lackadaisicaly, he brings to her a questionable gaze, "I'm not sure how i'm supposed to react when you bring up a reference like that…" Giving him a frail smile she replies, "It's just to lighten up the mood, tsu~" With a sudden switch from 'We won't help you' to 'This is how our power works' she's really inconsistent with where she stands, it's making rather hard for Subaru to really start anything.

"Hey, not trying to call you out or anything but… it's getting quite hard to hold a solid conversation here, you got something wrong with your head?"  
"Hnn, you can say that, tsu~. We aren't the most level-headed within the witch cult after all"  
"Unlike the other two, you're just a conglomeration of people aren't you? I'm impressed you haven't torn yourself apart yet"

"Thank you for the praise, tsu~ but there really isn't anything to debate about when all you can see is white, and we're stripped off of our free will when we step over to the other side, it's quite annoying when think about it, tsu~"

"Really? That's news to me…"  
"But it's not that boring here, tsu~. Besides, we always have newcomers coming, so there's never really a dull moment…"

If it isn't already obvious, it's the names and memories that's been stolen that keep her company, no, to keep 'them' company. Yes, that's how he should be thinking about it right now, Subaru isn't dealing with a person, he's dealing with multiple people all jammed into one whole mess of a girl. "Then, Rui, let's make a deal"

"Oho, this sure is bizzare Onii-san…"  
"In exchange for information on where and how I can return the memories of the forgotten, I'll bring you guys out of here…"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Okay…"

Okay she said, with a straight face as she dragged her hand forward, "Don't tell us we didn't warn you, tsu~" Her hand closed in, onto his chest as if trying to shove something into it, but stopped midway before the whole place started to shake.

"...So it's already time is it? Tsu~"  
"What? What was that?"

Subaru frantically looked around, he couldn't tell by looking, there was nothing to confirm whether there was shaking or not, but the vibrations he feel in his body, no doubt there's some sort of shaking going on, "Hey, what's going on over th-" Two hands grab ahold of his head and he was forced to look forward, towards the little girl, "Listen carefully Onii-san… from where you come, there's a saying that 'You are what you eat'. Our authority works just like that, and so with that in mind, the only place the memories of the forgotten can reside in, is in the person who ate them in the first place"

"The person who ate them…"

"In short, Onii-san… you have to find Nii-sama and Onii-chan, you have to find them and then… you yourself have to eat them, that's the only way you can find the memories and names of the people you want to find, that's the only way for the both of us to get what we want…"

"..."

"Enough time has been wasted, we leave the rest up to you, Onii-san…" With an endearing smile, she left his head with just a pat, as his body slumped to the ground. "T-This feeling-!" he couldn't move at all, there was a sudden reaction within his body, something foreign has entered his body, it was a very familiar feeling, he forced his eyes to look up and all he could see was a small figure waving towards him as the world grew darker…

* * *

"Julius!"

It's one thing after another, first we get split up by some weird voice and now something's throwing projectiles at us, "Don't worry about me, just concentrate on finding the book, prioritize it above all else you two!" You say that but how are we supposed to leave you to fight this person without a sword!

"Please don't die Julius! Subaru-san has to return with you being alive!"  
"I wouldn't think of dying until I've lived the rest of my years!"

A spear of light zoomed between us as it blasted the bookshelves into smithereens, if we don't hurry up, the book would be destroyed before I ever get the chance to read it, "Meili! Grab books at random, we're going to cover as much bookshelves as we can, since it wasn't in the place where I woke up, then it's safe to assume this monster of a library sorts them automagically somehow!"

"What a pain~ there oughta be a librarian for these kinda situations"  
"I don't think it's right to joke in this life-death situation!"

One by one, we took a book randomly and glanced by the title, unreadable, unreadable, I'm completely useless, "I can't even read single character!" Just when I thought I had a plan, my own amnesia comes in to bite me in the back, "Sorry Meili but I'll have to be relying on you from now on!" "Onii-san is being a bigger pain than he should be you know?"

We scrambled through the books as the library kept on shaking, we lost our footing many times, but stood our ground and kept on going, "Nope… nope… nope…" Meili repeated over and over again as I tossed her more and more of the books, this really isn't going to end well at this rate, "Onii-san really is slow isn't he-"

 **RUMBLE**

A sudden tremor broke our momentum and struggled to keep our bodies upright, and the next moment, the whole ground erupted in a light filled blast, "Aagh! It hurts..." We were blasted away in different directions, this isn't good, if this keeps up, we'll just be taken out before we get anything done, not good!

"Meili keep on going! I'll buy us some time!"

"Heh!? Aren't you the one we need to get-"

She couldn't finish her sentence, the tumbling of books had put a barrier between the two of us, completely cutting us off. As always, things take a turn for the worse, "I don't know where the others are, and I don't think Julius can last long enough, I have to help out somehow!" I take off towards the direction of the light, there must be something I can do, something...

"You..." I gasp as I suddenly realize, grasping onto the purple crystal that glowed dimly on my chest, "Please, we need your help! Just for a little while, I just need a diversion, so the others can find his book, even if its just for a second... I... need to..." My body suddenly feels numb, just like that time back then, it seems my body is being taken control of yet again.

"Guah!"

My body suddenly took a sidestep and dodged a falling bookshelf that was inches away from crushing me, "Hah... that was close-" I didn't stop there, twisting my body from one side to another masterfully, I skid and dash side to side as I move around the falling debri while keeping my footing solid on the trembling ground.

As my body kept on pushing forward, I see a white object fluttering past me, "Wait… that was-" With another crash, I see Julius tumbling down from a few steps up and a figure rushing down towards him. "Julius-" I tried to jerk my head to his direction, but I was forbidden any such thing as my arms were flung forward to block a blow from the figure ahead, "Ghh-!" The force of the impact should have slammed me back farther than it did, but my feet dug down the floor, holding me down.

I turn to look up at our enemy and I gasp out in surprise, "Y-You?!" With a flash of light, a womanly figure appeared within my field of vision, a person who I've completely left out, "Shaula!" she quickly twists her body and lands a kick on my forearm, slamming me into another bookshelf. I brace myself for another impact as she keeps on hitting me repeatedly.

"Ghaaa! Stop, stoop!"

With every hit, I feel another one of my bones break, slowly and slowly, she's wittling me down till there'd be nothing left of me, "Ul-Jiwald!" Hearing the signal, I kicked her off me as Julius jumped out from the fallen books and punted her away, "Konrad, are you okay?" He says to me as he pulls me up from the torn down remains of the shelves, "Y-Yeah… I'm surprised I can still stand though, Subaru-san's body is really something else isn't it… I'll try not to get any more broken bones"

"The lesser the better... now, what do we do about her?"

As the dust settles down, we see her approaching us once more, "I'm sure we hadn't broken any of the rules, there is no reason for her to have turned against us…" Shaula acting like this, was out of my calculations, I hadn't taken how she'd move into account, in other words, I've failed to bring her to our side and thus she has swayed over to the other, but to think that she did this willingly, might be going too far, "She's probably being controlled… by Pandora…"

"The most likely choice… we'll have to stall for a little longer until you find the book, go"  
"Aha, about that, I just realised I can't read any of the names… so I'm actually pretty useless in that regard…"  
"Quite troublesome, but it seems the others finally got the attention of our position"  
"The others?"

Suddenly, A pillar of ice rushed past us and straight to Shaula, forcing her back even further away, "Konrad! Are you okay?" "Emilia-san!" The silver-haired woman jumped down in to assist us, an expression of worry painted across face. Going by what happened last time around, her holding Shaula back won't be a problem, but whether she gets taken control of again…

"I lost Meili somewhere in the library, she's still going to look for the book so I'll try to meet up with her, where's Anastasia-san?"

"She's gone to the outskirts of the library, trying to look for the book where there are still bookshelves in tact"  
"And Beatrice?"  
"She's coming soon"

With Emilia's quick exchange, I give a nod to Julius and I made a dash for it in the direction I last saw Meili, "We'll buy you as much time as you need!" he said. And all I have to do is make sure to find her and read it, once I do, he'll be back, then I can leave it all to him, "But even if it's that simple, what the hell is with my luck!" The ground rumbled, the air was hot from all the projectiles being thrown around, and my throat was sore from taking in all the dust from the debris.

"Meili! Where are you!"

I call out her name as I climb my way up the mountain of planks, grabbing book after book, throwing them down the pile, "If only I wasn't so useless god dammit!" I hear the battle coming in closer and closer, is she trying to go for me? Probably, not much time left to waste then.

* * *

"..."

As the boy ran across the wasteland of books, two figures looked on, "Quite amusing isn't it dear…" The woman said as she glanced towards her compatriot, who didn't seem to really care about anything in the least, "Seeing such trifling matters such as this doesn't much please my heart, you can say it's going so well that it's turned bland…" The witch of greed left her stark comment at that.

"My, you really are a hard girl, Dona…"  
"..."

"Still, it's quite a surprise he's chosen a name for himself and not just take up the mantle of the one before him, wouldn't that have piqued your interest dear? Especially that name..."

"Of course not, unlike you who merely plays the role of a puppet master, I've been within the stage and have come to understand many things about various people around me, and one of that is that the man you see before you would never infringe on what is not his, to put it bluntly, it's written within his own soul that he is like that, so no matter how many times he forgets, he'll still be the same way he's always been…"

"Hmmm… look you going all lovestruck, such is youth"

"I'm in a rather unpleasant mood so if you'd like to stop with such nonsensical acts, I'd highly appreciate that… and to add, we no longer have anything left to do here, I suppose? Watching them struggle would make my mouth taste a little sour"

"You're free to leave dear, but I have to make sure things go the way they're supposed to, I'll meet up with you soon enough so you don't have to wait for me if you don't want to…"

"Then, I'll happily take my leave"

The two witches bid a silent farewell as one of them disappeared into the smoke and ashes of the used to be library, "Now… it's about time we have our first greeting, Natsuki Subaru…"

* * *

"Onii-saaaan!"

I heard her voice! To my left yes there she is, "Meili!" she was there, climbing down a mountain of books, a tiresome face she showed but I was relieved, "I found it Onii-san, I found the book!" She says as I look towards her, I book in hand.

"You found it! Great!"

A joyful moment it is, with this, we can finally progress with the plans. I ran towards her, however, it proved to be difficult with the ground shaking. "Careful not to fall down!" I say hastily as I nearly trip over a few books, we shouldn't let our guard down in the final stretch.

"It was in a rea~ly weird place you know, I had squeeze myself to get it"  
"I'm surprised you even decided to look in such a small place then, but because of that, we've got the book!"

She handed it over to me, and I examined it. "Yeah… I still can't read it, but I'll trust that this is the correct book…" "Useless as always, I'll start calling you useless Onii-san from now on okay?" I chuckled for a bit, quite a weird thing to do in such a disparing situation, "Well, it's not likely that we'll be seeing each other any time soon… it's been nice meeting you Meili, could you please pass on the message to everyone else for me?"

I say to her as I prepare myself, "What?" She asks, in a tone of confusion, "After reading this book, I'll probably be sent to the place 'Natsuki Subaru' is in, I'm not sure whether or not that may be true, but we're hoping that he'll come back, and when he does…" I stopped in my sentence and looked to the ground for a while, and then into my hand, "Well… there's not really any spare body around for me to take hehe, so, I'll probably just disappear… I guess?" I smiled fraily at her as I came to that conclusion.

"Is that really… what you want?"  
"Well, yes and no I guess? Either way, I'm pretty grateful I've been given this short life, as Konrad, but I guess it's time to say goodbye"

I take a deep breath as I grip the cover of the book, the beating of my heart becomes more and more prevalent as it drowned the sound of the nearby battle, though, I felt one solemn gaze on me, "Meili?" I called out to her, but all the was given back to me was a blank stare, and then she ran to me, and… shoved me off.

"W-What!?"

The moment I fell down the pile of books, I saw a blinding flash of light covering my field of vision, and a scream of pain, was it mine? Or was it someone elses? I can't tell at this point, my ears have been deafened by the screech that came straight after.

"Aaaagh!"

The next thing I know, I sharp pain stabbed me across my back, "Hurts! It hurts, it hurts!" the sudden smell of metal had flooded my nostrils, no, it was the smell of blood, it was trickling around my back and dripped down to the ground, "No… Meili… Meili are you okay!?" I frantically shouted as I tried to get my bearings, but there was no sign of her around, all I saw was smoke and fire.

"Not like this… not when we were this close…"

The pain thickens, it didn't die out like it did before, why not? I can't tell, my mind hazes up, I probably won't be able to breathe in the next few seconds, my lungs are punctured, and my legs are pinned to the ground like some sort of voodoo doll, just one moment is all I need, "Please… help me… please, Subaru…" With the last of my strength, I open up the book… Reid's 'Book of the Dead'.

* * *

"..."

Silence, was the only thing he heard.

"..."

A pitch black silence, one that tormented his ears.

"..."

"Was I too late?"

He asked himself, who was lost in this silence.

"In the end, I just got in the way didn't I…"

He blamed himself in the silence.

"In the end… my life… was mea-"  
"Meaningless?"

"..."

"In the end… your life was meaningless… is that what you were going to say?"  
"Of course… I wasn't even able to make use of my short life before it ended…"

"Hmm, really now? If you ask me… I think you did a splendid job there…" From the silence, the shadows, a figure approached him. He jerked his head up to meet up face to face, "...!" What he saw, was himself, a perfect replicated image of himself, "No… it can't be…"

"Yo, my names Natsuki Subaru, nice to meet ya Konrad… and good job making it all the way here, I appreciate the effort"

The man standing in front of him, there was no doubt about it, it was the man he had been searching for, the man he had called out to moments before, "Natsuki Subaru! It really is you!" With a cry of joy, he leapt forward towards Subaru, tearfully grabbing a hold of him. "Please, the others outside! They need your help!"

"Yeah, I'm really grateful you've kept it up to shape till now, I'll try everything in my soul to keep everyone safe, you're struggles won't be in vain"

With a pat in the back, Subaru reassured his other self, who had tried his hardest to keep everything in check, "Uh, but, my name, how did you?"

"I was watching from the book, kinda overheard you're conversation with Meili back then"  
"Ah, I see..."

He suddenly had a dejected look on his face, conflicted, worried, and scared.

"Listen... one day, i'll be sure to repay you back, so wait for me ya?" He said to Konrad. He lifts his head and he smiles with a nods, just a simple nod, "Rui, keep him company for me until then, would you?"

Konrad turned back once more and took a glimpse of a little girl with blonde hair, dripping on the floor like a snake dangling off a tree.

"My, quite demanding aren't you, tsu…"  
"What can I say, I feel like pushing my luck a little bit…"

Subaru walked away from the two of them, balling his hand into a fist, "Then… until next time you two…"

* * *

"Ul-Minya!"

A blue light wrapped around shaula as she was slammed downwards, "You're very stubborn, I suppose!" She struggled to get out but broke loose nonetheless. Taming her proved to be quite difficult, "Well, it's to be expected of the sage's apprentice, Jiwald!" Julius swung a sword, one made of ice that Emilia had conjured moments prior, and a slash of light was launched forward, though, it did close to nothing as she simply moved out of it's way.

She raised her hands once more, and shouted, "Hell's snipe!" The spears of light broke through all their defences, it pierced Julius's right shoulder and forced Beatrice to teleport farther back, but she wasn't done just yet, she stomped her feet on the ground and concentrated all of her power to the palm of her hand, "Al-Jiwald!"

"That spell!? Julius, get back, I suppose! We have to brace for impact!"  
"Easier said than done, Beatrice-sama"

Julius pried off the spear of light off his shoulder and made a dash to flee away from the incoming attack, such an attack can't be played around with. "This isn't good, I suppose!" A large ball of light that kept on growing in size had appeared in her hand, it was going to be an attack larger than anything they'd seen her do before, "Wheres Emilia and the other one, I suppose!"

"Emilia-sama had fallen back and is recovering from her injuries, as for Anastasia-sama, I'm afraid even if she is far away, she won't be able to evade this attack"

With panic filling both of their hearts, they tried with all their might to rack up a counter measure, but, "It's no use, I suppose, if we allow her to progress, our best course of action would be to just blast it away with everything we have, I suppose" Julius got his stance ready and glared towards her, "If that is so, then let it be!"

Julius's sword began to glow a bright white and Beatrice prepared herself for an all out rampage, when suddenly, a shadow swiftfully maneuvered around them and towards Shaula, "Authority of gluttony, 'Gluttony'!" Shaula's face was slammed by a palm, the resulting impact sent a small shockwave hurtling through the air, as the magic she had prepared suddenly collapsed back into mana, diffusing itself into the atmosphere.

"So you decided to finally show up"  
"Seriously, you had Betty worried, I suppose!"

"Sorry, it seems I've gone and ran off by myself there for a while, but I'm finally back…"

From the cloud of dust emerged Subaru, a large grin plastered on his face with the success of his return.

* * *

 **A/N**

Heyy, I finally finished it, however long it took. But now that Amnesia-baru is gone, things should smoothly progress from here on out, I do hope you stay a little longer for the rest…

As a gift for waiting out this long, I'm bringing back the [End of Chapter - Conversations]

[Ella]: You took so long, I've already forgotten what I wanted to say here...  
[Review]: Yes, that's my bad… please forgive me...  
[Ella]: Ah, well since you're now back on track, you'll let me have my screen time will ya?  
[Review]: Eeeh, about that...  
[Ella]: How much longer do I have to wait!  
[Review]: Sorry but you're gonna have to wait a little longer...  
[Ella]: You always say that! It's always a little longer, and then again, just a little longer  
[Ella]: No wonder you're always late  
[Review]: Even if I know that, it still hurts hearing it y'know!


	39. Chapter 36: The Past meets the Present

**Warlock of Sin. Arc 3: Linking the Past and The Present**

 **Chapter** **36: The past meets the present**

"Sorry, it seems I've gone and ran off by myself there for a while, but I'm finally back…"

Subaru said calmly as he emerged out from the smoke with Shaula in his arms, a grin plastered on his face as he faced Beatrice and Julius. His spirit smiled back at him while Julius just let out a relieved sigh, "Seeing that you've successfully made it back, then I presume Konrad… no, let's discuss that later, for now…" Julius glanced over at the woman that Subaru was carrying.

"Don't worry, she shouldn't be moving any time soon…"

Subaru laid the woman down by the ground, dusting off the dirt and blood on his clothes, "So, where are Emilia and Anastasia? Kinda worrying to not see them around when there's this much destruction going on…" Julius relieves his worry by telling him that they were far away from the battle between them and Shaula at the moment, so they shouldn't be injured. Subaru nodded and proceeded to ask, "I'm guessing I missed a lot, can you guys fill me in?"

"Yes but before that, I suppose, where's the other one, I wonder? Konrad went to look for her and…"

Subaru suddenly jerked his head towards the direction he came from, and sprinted over there, "Meili! Are you okay!" He shouted out. Just now remembering what had happened shortly before he had regained regained control, he panicked, he couldn't tell much, but one thing was for sure, Meili had bodied the blow for Konrad, and if it weren't for that, everything would have ended with nothing gained.

"Meili! Answer me!" he returned back to the spot where he had reawakened, and scanned the surroundings, no Meili to be seen anywhere, "What happened, I suppose?!" The other two followed behind him in a quickening pace, panting as they've exhausted themselves already from their scuffle with Shaula, "Not good, pretty sure Meili was hurt by one of Shaula's attacks, she couldn't have gone far, we have to find her before her injuries gets too serious"

With the others starting to get more and more concerned, they all searched for her, but there didn't seem to be any sign of her anywhere. This prompted Subaru to stand out in the open and concentrate his mind, "Authority of Wrath… Exalted Sentiment" He closed his eyes as his senses heightened to the point where he could 'feel' his surroundings.

'Two people nearby, two more far away, two more in a medium distance'

Emilia and Anastasia are nowhere to be seen so their most likely the ones farthest away, Julius and Beatrice are right beside him, and Shaula's a good distance away, so that could only mean Meili is left, "She's not around here, expand our search area" The other two nodded and followed his orders, going a little farther into the center of the library, so did he.

They kept on calling out for her hoping that she would reply but only a silentless echo returned, nothing more, nothing less. While the other two searched on foot, Subaru tried his best to pin-point the location of that last person, but suddenly, a nauseous feeling crept up on him, a sickening presence had shown itself, one so detestable in almost made him throw up.

He deactivated his authority and jerked his head towards the ominous figure, and almost instinctively called out to it, "You… Pandora…" Looking above, towards a ledge that stayed intact despite the whole library getting mowed down by Shaula's destructive power, there stood a woman, with flawless skin that one would hesitate to even gaze at, that woman, Subaru glared at her.

This grabbed the attention of the others and they turned back to look at what the commotion was, they froze up on the spot as they spotted the woman. "Quite rude assuming who people are aren't you? Though, you are entirely correct" Striking a pose of an innocent little girl, she looked down to the three of them.

Subaru could feel a seething rage inside of him, and fear as well, they weren't his, definitely wasn't his, he couldn't possibly get this angry to a person he's only looked at once, so this could only be the emotions of another person, "Beatrice, keep this safe for me…" he threw to her the purple necklace that had been glowing sporadically since a few moments ago.

"Sorry for my assumptions, but to make someone hate you that much, you musn't be such a great person aren't you…"

The degree of disgust he felt towards her just a few moments prior, was no joke, that level of hate, that level of fear, was on the same level as when he had that one encounter with Betelgeuse, that level of hate and fear, was one he understood, perhaps it could have been greater than what he had felt, but he knew that what this woman had done was absolutely sickening.

"So, tell us what you're doing here… Witch of Vainglory"  
"My, quite knowledgeable aren't you?"

With a smile on her face, she continued to look at the three as if mocking them "I've already got what I came here for, I was only curious about what the present sage has been up to recently, and I'm quite amused you're not even from here, though that would be for the better wouldn't it…" after saying that, she turned over to look towards Beatrice and flashed a grin.

She felt threatened by it by how sinister it was, even for a great spirit like her, when in the face of a witch, nothing could be done.

"You've done trouble around here, but don't think we're letting you go just like that…"

Julius managed to say as he pointed his blade of ice towards her, she only sighed in return not giving him an eye. "Ignoring me-"

"Don't get me wrong Knight of the kingdom, Julius Juukulius, I've seen you aren't something to take lightly but… bringing you, a foreigner in the subject of witches of the past simply would halt the whole conversation"

He was surprised she talked back, but he was even more surprised that she knew his name, "How… my name has already been eaten so how do you know…" she gave an eerie smirk as she looked back to Subaru, "You should be aware of this no?"

She showed him a book, one that shook his heart deep to it's core, not only him but Beatrice shared the same fear, "A gospel… no that's not it! That's-" "Where did you get that, I suppose!" Beatrice shouted at her with everything she had, she took a few steps forward and continued.

"Why do you of all people, have Mother's…"

She didn't have enough breath to say anymore but the rest was obvious, what she held wasn't any ordinary boom, it wasn't a gospel, it was something more fearsome than that, it was, "The book of wisdom…!" A book so packed with information, it would fry your brain had you just a peek of it, a book that can only be read by one person.

"Why do you have Echidna's book of wisdom… How do you have it?!"

"My, such a simple question, if only there were a simple answer, how wondrous would that be, wouldn't it?" Did she take it from Echidna? Did Echidna hand it over to her before she passed? Did she somehow manage to recreate a replica of such a terrifying object? Did she happen to just stumble upon it somewhere, so many answers to just one question.

"I wonder what the answer could be, but… it seems you might have other things to worry about, no?"  
"What are you-"

Before he uttered another word, a sharp stinging pain rang across his head, like a splitting headache, it made him scream out in pain, "S-Subaru!" He slumped down, clawing down into his hair to ease the pain, but it was relentless, "What's wrong, Subaru!" Beatrice immediately went to his aid, Julius as well but not knowing any form of healing magic without his spirits, he just kept watch on the woman.

"What did you do to him!?"  
"Nothing at all, what's happening is his own doing, not that any of you'd understand it as of now"

With a flick of her hand, she turned back and started walking away, "Until next time we meet, Natsuki Subaru, I do thank you for being of use to me, I hope we can continue doing good business in the future as well" and just like that she was gone, leaving Subaru with an unbearable pain, and the other two with lost hope for the situation.

"Shut up! Shut uuuup!"

Subaru started screaming out, to no one in particular, the others tried to calm him down, but to no avail, "Shut up… shut up, my head hurts so much… voice in my head… shut…" And then he suddenly laid limp on the ground, "Subaru!" Beatrice and Julius caught him before he face planted to the ground, and did all they could to keep him in check.

"Don't worry, he's just fainted from whatever the pain was…"  
"Go get Emilia, I suppose, we need to heal him quickly"  
"Understood…"

As Beatrice tended to the pained Subaru, Julius got up to find the rest of the crew, and with Meili still missing, things are taking a drastic turn for the worst. Beatrice gazed at Subaru's face, it was churned and twisted in agony, though, it was slowly turning back to it's usual shape, all she could do was wait, nothing more than that.

"..."

* * *

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

My mind was blank, I couldn't think of anything, I had my senses, I could see, I could hear, I could feel, I could touch, but I couldn't think, it's like, my mind is a complete empty void, it feels… weird, not being able to think. My brain is receiving so much information, but my mind can't process any of it, I'm just a blank slate.

"Good morning there… ah, you can't do anything yet now can you? Let me fix that for you…"

A voice rang through my ears, a shadowy light in front if me, "Come on now, open up your eyes properly, I won't be able to greet you if you don't..." I felt a touch in my face, it was a rough touch, it was nice in a way.

"..."

"There we go... oh, the green your eyes really do match the lush grass around these parts..."

Grass? I wonder what he's talking about? I don't see any grass, all I see is a smokey haze in front of me, "What... are you?" I asked him, the voice seemed to be coming from the smoke, there isn't anything else that I can ask that question too.

"What you say... well, I'm a human, or, perhaps 'human' would be too intricate for you to understand... I'm a person. People usually call me the Sage, but my name is Flugel... I'm also you're Sensei from now on, okay?"

"My... Sensei... what am I then?"

"You're also a person, you're a person I've created, you're name is Shaula and you're my apprentice, understand?"

My name is Shaula, Shaula, Sensei's apprentice, "Sensei, what is a person? Is sensei made of smoke?" I ask him, and he replied quickly while helping me up, "What you see is my soul, the very essence of my being, you have one too, right here"

"..."

Looking down, I can see that I too am made of a smokey haze, if I concentrate hard enough, I can make out more refined shapes, hands, legs, I can see all of those too. I look towards Sensei, and I can tell his shape as well, arms, head, torso, is that how a person looks like?

"Come, let me show you around"

He grabbed me by my hand and pulled me along, what is there to show? All I see is a black abyss of nothingness, just the two of us in a ocean of shadows, nothing more, "A little more, and we'll finally be outside..."

As we continue to walk, there is something else I can see, a door brimming with a new sensation, color. He opened that door and we walked outside, "Ahh, quite a sight isn't it..." He faced towards a marvelous field of grass, indeed, the grass was lush and lustrous.

"So... this is how my eyes look like? Sensei..."  
"Yeah, pretty right?"

* * *

"The flow of mana is what you really see, so colors, and visual patterns, we see those things differently from you, sometimes even shapes may seem altered due to the flow of mana"

"Sensei… is there a reason why I see the flow of mana?"

"Of course, I made you like that for the sole reason of being my apprentice, I may be the wise sage but everyone has their limits, to surpass them, you have to take into you, the abilities of others through cooperation, in layman's terms, you're like that so you can help me"

"Help you, Sensei? Like how?"

"The flow of mana is the flow of life, and what is life is the truth, so, what you see is the truth, the insides of a being, the outsides, all you see is the truth, for all I see is mere light, and light is lifeless, thus it is not truthful. Light may be beautiful, but beauty can sometimes be blinding…"

"I see…"

* * *

"Reid Astrea, truly a man of valor, is what I'd like to say but valor can't be achieved by such arrogance. To fear is to have courage, to have no fear, means to have no courage, so, in a way you're very much like a coward, wouldn't you say?"

"Bababaa, s'noisy. Mister smart'n pants gone and scewered buncha words together didn' he?"

In time, I've been introduced to many people, one of which was a man cloaked in a bright aura of red, a man who's very existence casued my vision to fill up with bright colors, Reid Astrea, the sword saint, "Hmm, as always you're no fun to talk with aren't you?" "Well forgive me mister blabber, sm' times ya gotta sifter out the insane with the sane"

"Well, that's just what I expect from you, but, don't you think you've sifted everything out of my statement though? It didn't seem like you got any of that at all"

"Gettin or not gettin, doesn't matter"

A man even Sensei has trouble dealing with, or perhaps it's my misinterpretation, perhaps this is just how they get along, as the apprentice, I still have much to learn, "Sensei, I've been wondering, are the two of you comrades?" "A good question Shaula, to be friends means to be able to have a mutual relationship of trust between two people, trust is a given, but some may argue that the compatibility of the two should be good as well, in other words, according to one thesis, we are friends, but according to another, we're not"

"The shrimps ma punchin bag, simple 's that, Dolly"  
"I see… so it's much more complicated than I'd have ever imagined…"  
"Even you're Dolly's startin ta sound like ya… annoyin!"

* * *

Every day, every night, Sensei teaches me new things, he shows me new things, and with him, I meet new people, the poor, the rich, the large, the small, the good, the evil, he even had me meet a witch, "Dona, how great it is to see you once again, I'm truly pleased you have allowed for some time to see me…"

Echidna, the witch of greed, a person who's very existence is a complete hazes my visions, as if I'm hallucinating, it's completely different from the sword saint, who lets it all out. She keeps everything hidden, even my eyes, whose purpose is to see the truth, can't discern what was going on inside her mind, such is a witch, as Sensei would tell me.

"My, humble as always aren't you, great sage, even though I'm the one who had called you over?"  
"Such trivial matters shouldn't be bothered with, Dona…"

"A true gentleman you are, and I see your endeavours have paid off, you have created your own as well" The witch says as she glances over to me, I get an eerie feeling from her, like a darkness that can't be explained, not necessarily evil, but just dark. I tug onto Sensei's shoulder and asked him, "Sensei… may I have permission to introduce myself?"

"Why of course, go ahead…"

With a pat to my back, he said that, and so I stepped forward, "My name is Shaula, and I am Sensei's apprentice, I would like the honor of greeting you, Witch of greed, Echidna" I say while bowing my head, something I have learned from stories that Sensei has told me about.

"My, what a noble gesture, though it would be a waste on yours truly, something more lax would be appreciated, Shaula"  
"Then, may I bother you to ask a question, Echidna…"

"Of course, please do ask away"

"Why do you look so dark? I see an inexplicable darkness around you"

"My, I'm not surprised you noticed, what your eyes see is the flow of mana is what Flugel had told me, so naturally you'd be able to see what opposes mana, the factor of a witch, or in short, the witch genes…"

Witch genes, something that opposes mana itself, something that even my eyes could not wish to see, "Something that even the gods fear, such is the power of a witch, there are a total of nine different types, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Acedia, Lust, Vain, Gluttony, Pride, and lastly Envy, and each of them have their own different requirements for compatibility…"

"To be honest, they've intrigued me for the longest time, but sadly, there's only one that is vacant and I am unfortunately not compatible with it…"  
"Sensei, what do you mean when you say one is vacant?"

"Well, I simply mean that one of factors have yet to find someone with the requirements to control it, and it is within my possession, the witch factor of Envy"

"You really shouldn't try anything you hear? Do what you may, but letting it go out of hand is something else, it may turn on all of us one day, and devour the world as we know it. But I assume you'd rather not talk about such frightening matters, my dear daughter is off in Sanctuary with Roswaal, I hope you can entertain me while I wait for my beloved"

"You think too highly of me Dona, but I shall try my best to pass on the matters of my research"

* * *

There were several more people that I have come to learn of, all the different witches, they're personalities are somewhat hard to deal with, such is the effects of the witch genes as Sensei says, but there was one that had completely turned me off, "Pandora… nice to see you again" Pandora, the Witch of Vainglory, someone so secretive, even Sensei is having trouble with her, and it's not the sort of trouble he faces when he's with the sword saint, it's trouble, on a whole nother level.

"A warm greeting to you, great sage, and as well to you, Shaula dear…"

Sensei has said to me that she looks like a stunning beauty, something even a goddess couldn't rival, but due to my special eyes, I'm unable to see such beauty, but it seems it's as Sensei says, Beauty can sometimes blind oneself from the truth.

"So, what brings you here?"  
"Just seeing how the whole watchtower project is going dear"

Sensei plans to build a watchtower in Auriga, a peaceful grassland, it was the place where I was given life, it held a special place in me, "Oh it's going quite fine if I do say so myself, perhaps I'll be able to finish it in a few months, mayhaps even quicker if I put myself to work hard enough…" Sensei knows to be cautious around this person, but even Sensei has his limits.

"I pray for your success great sage, I do look forward to seeing its completion... then, until we meet next time…"

Every time we meet, Sensei is always alert, as if ready for anything, I've never seen him so tensed at all.

* * *

Another person who Sensei has introduced me to, was a man named Conrad, "My name is Shaula, Sensei's apprentice, may I have the pleasure of having a handshake?" "Man, she's got a lot of manners doesn't she? It's a little scary when you think about it…" Conrad, a man who has a smell very reminisce of Sensei's own, there have been times where I've even mistakenly called out to him, expecting it to be Sensei.

"Never really heard someone ask for a handshake that way… really, I wonder where you got that attitude from?"

He glanced over to Sensei, in a rather annoyed way, "Hey now, what's with that look of vexation you have there? Perhaps there has been something that I've done to displease you, Conrad?" "Nah, just getting a little sick and tired of your face is all, don't take it to heart, great sage…" Sensei has told me that he and Conrad were close friends, though it didn't seem like it to me, perhaps this is one of those things I need to research more on.

"Then perhaps, there is something you'd like to say to me?"  
"Yeah, I'll be moving forward pretty soon, so I'd like you to be there"

"Haha, of course, you're going to take her hand this quickly, hmmm, indeed, I may be a little late, but I'll be sure to be there when it counts. Also, congrats on finally beating me at something, you're first victory shan't go in the dump, we'll celebrate this wondrous occasion some time, why not head over to my watchtower once I'm done with it?"

"It really feels you're mocking me at this point, I really just wanna punch you ya know?"

Sensei and Conrad were rivals from the stories I heard, perhaps they were fighting for the title of the great sage, maybe, maybe not, I have yet to ask Sensei about it, but I'll be sure to do so, one day…

* * *

"Ahh, thank you soo much! I really don't know what I'd do if you didn't help me"

Another interesting character was Satella, the half-elf, "Fret not, the great sage is not a title just for show" She was a person who was pure to heart, a person who's easy to read, friendly, helpful, but sometimes a bit of a clutz, "Ah, Shaula-chan, thank you for the help too" "Please think nothing of it, as Sensei's apprentice, to follow in his footsteps is what I must do…"

"Flugel must be really proud of you then, you're doing a great job!"  
"No, there's still a long way until I've closed the gap between me and Sensei"

Satella was interesting in her own right. Sensei has told me about the difficulties in dealing with each and every one of the witches, but Satella has managed to befriend every single one of them to the core, she has become the second person to have ever been able to hold such a relation with multiple witches, the first ever being Sensei and Conrad.

"Ah, are you perhaps heading over to the Sanctuary? Perhaps you're hoping to see Conrad again?"  
"E-Ehh? Conrad-kun!? Definitely not! I-I mean, maybe, but definitely not in that way!"

Such an easy girl to read, just as Sensei says, "Well you better hurry up and see him, if you know what I mean" "I'm telling you it's not that! That's definitely not it!" I can see the mana around her fluster around, was she pouting? Perhaps so, "Is he going somewhere? I thought I told Dona-chan I'd be visiting…?" Her reply garnered a reaction from Sensei, he seemed surprised.

"Cruel you are, Dona… no, he's not really going anywhere, I guess they didn't tell you yet, haven't they?"  
"Hmmm? Didn't tell me what?"

"Ah, it's rather complicated, I think it'd be better if they told you themselves, we'll be excusing ourselves now"

With that, we waved away to the half-elf, and she does the same to us, "Thanks for helping again! I'll surely repay you some day!" And off she goes in the other direction, "Sensei, was it really okay not to tell her?" "Whether the right thing was for her to know or for her to not know, I don't have the authority to decide, something related to those two must be resolved by those two only, such is the way we people live"

"I see… I'll make a note of that…"

* * *

Lastly, but definitely not the least, Volcanica, "So the great sage comes once more to my domain, for what reason have you come here, Flugel?" A towering figure, one that is several times taller than most of the buildings I've seen, this was Volcanica, scales coated with lush blue mana surrounded his figure, a dragon whose presence would strike fear and awe into the hearts of many, but not to Sensei.

"A while it has been Volcanica, I've come for a simple visit and to notify you of a few matters that you mayhaps would like some insight on"  
"So you've come to be the usual messenger you've always been, is it really alright for someone with great power like you, to be running errands?"

"Errands? It seems you have a slight misunderstanding, great dragon, I've done this for my own pleasure, never have I been asked, neither have I been bribed, I come here, purely by my own reasons, and of course, I couldn't help but wonder what the great Volcanica could have in store for me in exchange. Finding the time and gathering the energy to meet you is quite exhausting"

Indeed it is, Volcanica, the great dragon who oversees the Kingdom of Lugnica as it's safeguard, has isolated himself in one of the most desolate areas, even with my eyes of truth, I am unable to discern this location, ever shifting, ever changing. "Unlike a certain witch, I do not serve tea or biscuits, such pleasantries are scarce in the area, I hope the oh so great sage doesn't mind?"

"Please, you're cynical as always, aren't you? I've come to meet and share some happenings with a friend, such trivial matters mean nothing"

Volcanica has always been the kind to look at people as if their up to no good, self-interest, self-preservation, all of those are what decides the factors of judgement in people is Volcanica's mindset, as such he's been known for being extremely distrustful of people and that has lead the masses fearing him for quite some bit. Even Sensei had trouble trying to talk to him.

"Conrad is going to be Wedded soon, I take that you might want to drop by?"  
"Such trivial human affairs are nothing to a great dragon, but do pass on my regards"

"Of course, Dragons don't really do have a sense of marriage, such is the rift between species, perhaps something more interesting would befit you. Would you like to drop by my watchtower that is nearing its completion? I do say that you may enjoy the visit, I've even built a place for you specially"

"So you're still set on completing that behemoth? Perhaps when I have the time"

"A great dragon you are, but saying that you'll visit when you have time, isn't that a little too lax? The Kingdom of Lugnica is doing well just by the contract alone, you haven't had a reason to leave here for almost 5 years, mayhaps it's time to take a little breather no?"

"It may seem like I'm just wasting away in here, but I do have my reasons, great sage…"

"I see, I see, sorry for intruding into your private life… now I'd like to ask for your insight. As the great dragon, your knowledge is vast and deep, even Dona is jealous of you, and having the time to ask you is something so very precious to anyone, but me especially… your knowledge of the past, and your insight on the future… Volcanica…"

"I'll answer what I can, so ask what you must"

"It is rather simple and straightforward, I'd like to know- no, I must know, what is it that Pandora, the Witch of Vainglory, planning? Her whole being, her whole existence, the ground she walks, the air she breathes, the beauty she holds, it all covers everything, covers the truth, covers the lies, whenever she is around, I lose myself in a trance, just being near her gives me a vile aura…"

"Even I have my limits, great sage, something as anomalous as her, not even I can foretell the dangers that await"  
"So even if I take the last resort, it bore no fruit, alas, the only thing I can do now is to wait patiently for what is to come"

"Though I may not be able to provide you anything regarding that woman, I can however tell you of an existential crisis that is about to befall this world, one that may or may not be loosely tied to her"

"Please, great dragon, go on…"

"I've forseen something that even puts me into a shock, a black darkness that will envelop the world, it is drawing near, for that reason, I've been keeping myself in here, to save my strength for that coming day, great sage, you too should prepare... for that day is when half the world shall be engulfed in shadows. I great force of power shall arise on that day, and trample on the world starting from Lugnica…"

"Such a frightening prophecy shan't be taken lightly…"

Sensei has always been talking to the great dragon on advice on the future, though he hates to admit it, "The force of power could possibly rival the Od lagna itself, such is the extent of the threat that befalls the world" Od lagna, the place were mana itself is born and distributed, the place that gifts people with magic prowess and divine protections, to be even stronger than that, what a frightening thought.

"It seems a joint-effort would need to be made on that day… then I shall take my leave, great dragon, and may I say that I am not looking forward to the day we have to stand side by side against this powerful force"

"Believe me great sage, neither am I…"

.

After meeting many more people, Sensei has allowed me to go on and research things on my own. Before, Sensei would have me follow him everywhere he went, though I'm not sure what exactly was his reasons were as he was never explicit about them, but my deduction is that he's been showing me how talk to people, which ones to avoid, and what not, socializing may be the term.

"Great sage, I've come to take your head!"

Ones that have been troublesome to Sensei, clearly no not the strength he has, "Shaula, one must never use violence unless they so truly must, as such let me demonstrate… I fear I have no reason to allow you to continue with such threatening jabs my fellow, perhaps you'd like to talk it out? I'm an extremely talkative person though, I must warn you…"

"I'm having none of that! Your always getting all high and mighty with that tower of yours aren't you? Like hell you deserve it! I'm much better than you could ever be, I'll take your head and I'll make sure everyone pays!"

I don't understand anything of what this man is speaking, people like this just appear out of the blue, it's been a nuisance to Sensei, "If you would like to prove your worth, then I'd be more than happy to spar with you, would that suit your needs?" "Absolutely not! Your head, it has to be your head!" They grow weary of Sensei's worth, money, fame, and power, defeating Sensei means having it all, to fight the great sage, perhaps these people have gone mad.

"I do hope you reconsider"  
"Go die!"

Though, they were all the same, "Ghhh-" "I'm terribly sorry that it has come to this, it seems I couldn't persuade you to back down… then, allow me to end you…" Without even moving a muscle, Sensei had demolished the person's neck which he had grabbed onto ever so lightly. The man slid down to the ground and dropped dead, another loss of a soul had occured, he was now just an inanimate object in my eyes.

"I'll be sure to have a proper burial for you…"  
"Sensei, is he really deserving of one, after provoking you like that?"

"Whether or not he deserved it or not, life is something meant to be cherished, and honoring a life, no matter how good or bad they were, is just how I do things, perhaps not everyone can see my vision of things…"

"Sorry Sensei, I'll try my best to follow in your ways…"

* * *

The rest of my life had continued on like that until the day of the towers completion, "Alas, the watchtower has finally been done" "Sensei, good work on it's completion…" "Thanks Shaula, you've been a big help too, I'll be sure to prepare something special to commemorate this day" It was a grand day for Sensei, never have I seen him so happy before, the completion of the tower really was something important to him.

"Since we've already moved everything inside simultaneously while building it, there isn't anything left to do but gaze at the marvelous structure that we've birthed. Shall we take a look inside, Shaula?"

"Yes, Sensei, let's go…"

We took a tour into the tower, large it was, and larger it will be, perhaps Sensei has future plans for the tower, maybe, maybe not, I'll have to ask him later. "The purpose for making this place, have I ever told you, Shaula?" He said while gazing out through the balcony, "No, Sensei has never spoken a word about it, but I'd like to know…"

"This tower, it's to leave an imprint onto this world, for when I leave it behind… It would be quite sad if all the research and knowledge I've rounded up my whole life time were to just vanish into the expanses of time, wouldn't it Shaula?"

"Indeed it would be…"

That moment was the moment I realised, Sensei can't live forever, "Unlike you, I'm a normal person, so I've been bound by my own lifespan, truly, life is too short to live up to it's fullest…"

"Sensei, if I may ask, if life was too short, why couldn't you have found a way to extend it?"

"Why you ask? Well, it is a nice thought, to be able to live forever, but, sometimes, something like that, isn't what you need…" He looks towards the direction where the witch of greed would be, "Immortality and stuff like that, humans aren't fit for something like that… to live is to die, and to not die is to not live, if I can't die, then I'd have no reason to live, in a way, you can say that life is only life when you've finally died…"

"Sensei… I don't get it?"

"Sorry, to put it simply, not being able to die, simply doesn't make you human…"

To be human, is what Sensei wants to be, that much I can understand, a long life may be something else, but to have immortality, perhaps that may be a bit too much, "As Conrad would put it, it'd be… overkill…" Overkill, a good way to explain it. "Speaking of Conrad, let's not be any later than we already are, let's get going Shaula, he'd be really mad if I were to miss this occasion"

"Yes, Sensei…"

We got ready, dressed up, and prepared for the ongoing wedding perhaps it was a little bit much, but we brought presents as well, "Okay, it seems we're ready for anything, to be too prepared is better than to be under prepared, so too much is good" As we were about to leave, Sensei pulled back for a second, and headed for his room, "I need to get something first, wait a bit, Shaula"

"Sensei?"

I follow him back, as he skirmishes around his desk, for something, perhaps he lost forgot something important, "What!" He shouted out, louder than I'd be comfortable with, "Sens-" "Where is it!" I feel a frightening aura around Sensei at that moment, "No… it couldn't be… that woman…" That woman, could only be one person.

"Pandora…"

The next moment, Sensei had burst out of the watchtower window, not giving the slightest about me who he has let behind, but catching up to Sensei was no big feat for me, besides, I've been able to keep up with him for this long, I would be ashamed as the apprentice if I couldn't even keep up with him.

* * *

Once we've reached the destination, the place of the wedding, Sensei immediately scouted the area, looking for that woman, "Sensei, what exactly did she take" "I should've been more careful… The destined day to arise, Shaula, today is that day, what she took from me was…" A rumbling from the nearby house had given away the position of most of where everyone was.

"The Witch genes of Envy…"

A burst of black shadows, engulfed the whole area, terrifying, terrorizing, it made my whole being shake in fear, truly, it rivaled the power of the Od lagna, perhaps even more than that now that I'm seeing it first hand, my whole body trembled as I stopped in fear in front of such a monstrosity, and without a second thought, it continued to swallow half the world.

Many people were taken into the shadow itself, many people were devastated by the actions of that shadow, that shadow, it could be called an evil incarnate, a being so vile it made even super villains puke, such a thing, honestly scared me.

But even in front of this black mass of evil, Sensei didn't falter, throughout the 4 year span of it's being, Sensei fought, alongside the sword saint, and alongside the great dragon, I too was by his side, we fought with it, until it faltered and faded. But we were unable to destroy it, Sensei had been forced to seal it away, hoping that perhaps one day, someone strong enough would be able to finish them off completely, and just like that, my whole life had changed…

* * *

"Sensei, where are you going?"  
"I'll be going on a little journey on my own Shaula, I'm going to need you to look after the watchtower for me…"

Ever since that day, Sensei has changed deep inside, everything about him has changed, even his complexion, it had worried me, "Shaula, you remember the rules I've told you about the watchtower right?" The four rules of the watchtower, they are as follows, "Rule number one, to enter the tower, one must agree to undergo the three trials within, leaving without finishing them would mean death. Rule number two, to damage the tower would mean death. Rule number three, to disrespect the library would mean death. Rule number four, if any rules where broken during the trials would mean death…"

"Good… now Shaula there's one more rule you need to know and this one is just for you…"  
"Yes, Sensei…"

"The zeroth layer of the watchtower… 'Merope'... you are under no circumstances allowed to enter it, for any reason, if you specifically are to enter it, it would mean death… understand?"

"I… understand, Sensei…"  
"Good… now, I shall be going now…"

"I shall await your return Sensei…"

And just like that.

He left.

Never to be found.

Ever...

Ever again.

.

.

.

.

Until….

.

Four hundred years later...

My mind deteriorated in that span of time...

I was no longer able to make use of my eyes...

But my sense of smell was still there...

Smell...

I could smell Sensei...

"Meili! You there? We're all done here!"  
"It's over?"

I heard his voice, only his voice, the voice of the others didn't matter, none of them mattered, all that mattered was Sensei, Sensei, Sensei!

"Now… let's go and-"

.

.

"I've found you…"

.

.

.

"Sensei!"

.

A/N

Hello!

Waah, you have no idea how i manged to get this done, for the past month, i've been able to do 2k words for this chapter, but then, just yesterday, I added in 5k more, in the sapn of 4-5 hours deary me, I think I've beaten my own record? What was the last one, 4k in the matter of 6 hours? yeah, I think i've beaten it by quite a bit...

So, we have Shaula's backstory done, and now I can finally say bye bye to her, writing her past self was much more fun than writing her canon present, (Also, probably sure you all know this but just incase. The way Flugel acts and whatever, its all accordign to how I think he acts, it's not at all canon)

Alright, with the story notes done, lets get on to the life notes!

The summer season is looking very promising it seems, and Fireforce are a nice weekly thing I'm looking forward to, there's also Arifureta, now, I've read the manga, it was amazing, but the anime... the first episode... it was pretty darn shit, not gonna lie, the opening was a little dissapointing too, (not the song tho, that shits lit boi). Despite all of that, i still have some hope that it'll make up for it... somehow, this is white fox we're talkin about, they pulled of Rezero they can pull this one off too right?

There's also Danmachi 2 and Vinland, pretty spot on.

I'll be aiming to update the story at Fridays, so just keep that in mind. (Not every friday, just on a friday)

 **Spookysharma**

 **Dude. Please keep the updates running. I know you are doing this for free and must be pretty busy. But this is the only way I get to know what happens in the Web Novel with twists of your own. That's why it's so exasperating to wait for the next chapter to arrive.**

Well then, with the previous chapter, we've already crossed through the original web novel, if my memory serves me correct, the original had the other Gluttonies come in to join in on the fun, and Shaula turns into a scorpion or something... but when I've read that chapter, it was already too late and have plotted down how my version would go. Let's see how far we can get!

EOC - Conversations!

[Ella]: Subaru, Subaru! I got some screen time!  
[Subaru]: You sure did, though it was pretty minimilastic  
[Ella]: Author-san, you heard him, put me in there more!  
[Review]: I understand your frustration, but it wouldn't make sense if we did it like that  
[Ella]: Does this look like a face that wants 'sense'?  
[Subaru]: What is that even supposed to mean?  
[Ella]: Aren't you on my side, Subaru?  
[Subaru]: To be honest, I just wanna wake up, I've been out of it for a while in the story  
[Review]: Ah yeah don't worry, you'll be up next chapter  
[Ella]: Oh come on! He gets screentime but I don't!?  
[Ella]: Aren't I the secondary main character here!


	40. Chapter 37: In shambles

**Warlock of Sin. Arc 3: Linking the Past and The Present**

 **Chapter** **37: In shambles**

A blurry haze, a shadowy darkness, those were the things he saw before he heard voices call out to him, "Subaru! Please get up!" "Wake up, I suppose!" The voices that rang in his head, waking him up, "Subaru!" "Natsuki-kun!"

"Nhh…"

Rubbing off the dizziness in his eyes, he opens up with a shining gleam entering his field of vision, "W-what…?" He spoke out weakly, turning his head to where all the voices were. The next thing he knew, he was immediately brought into an embrace.

"You're finally awake! Thank goodness…"

Getting back to his senses, he was able to make out the situation they were in. There was Beatrice clinging on him with sobs of relief, Emilia holding his hand with an enchanting smile, Julius calming down as he went to sit beside him, and Anastasia letting out a sigh in the far back. "I'm… awake? Yeah, I'm awake, I remember getting this splitting headache just before going down… and then…"

"And then…?" Emilia asked, urging him to continue, but he shook his head and took a completely different direction, "Guys, please reassure me on something…" He said while grabbing onto his head, as if some residual pain was left behind, "If it's about Meili, then…" "Tell me loud and clear… what's my name again?" He said while looking towards them, as if such a question meant the end of the world

All their hearts were shaken, they tried so hard, they lost people to get him back, but he just, "Natsuki Subaru! You're Natsuki Subaru remember! The goofy, funny, serious... Subaru..." Emilia said in quick succession, but slowed down seeing that no reaction was seen in Subaru's face, "Subaru… a foolish, ill-mannered, and kind hearted knight" Julius added, "Natsuki-kun, the weak but resourceful man…" Anastasia chimed in, "You're Subaru, Betty's contractor, reckless, crazy, and unjustified, I suppose…"

"Subaru… Natsuki Subaru, lost and broke beyond compare... that's who I am, isn't that right, Emilia-tan?"

"Subaru!" With a look of relief, she went up and hugged him with joy, "Don't scare me all of a sudden like that" he chuckled himself out of it, "Sorry about that, just needed to make sure I'm myself…" standing up he looked back towards Julius, with a saddened look, "Julius, you were about Meili?" he can pretty much understand the situation, but hearing it from them is a way to give it some closure, of sorts.

"We tried our hardest… but she's nowhere to be found…"

Everyone understood what that meant, and so did Subaru, what has happened has happened and there's nothing that anyone can do to change anything, except, "..." Looking at his hand, Subaru thought hard, harder than he's ever thought about something his whole life, Beatrice looked towards him as he thinks, and looks away, understanding what he's doing.

Should he redo it again? Now with his memories back, he'd be able to properly prepare everything, he'll come up with a plan to take care of everything, just like always, if he only tried again one more time, he'll surely, "Subaru… please understand, we tried our best…" He heard someone say to him, it was Emilia, with a face that said not to give up.

"Haah… you're right Emilia… we've still got stuff to do, we can't slow down now…"

Getting up from his slump, he faced them all and cleared his throat, "Okay, guess I'll explain what happened to me a while ago…" Everyone readied themselves to hear his story, finding a place to lean or sit on as it seems this story may take a bit of time, either that or they were all just tired from the whole battle that had occurred, probably the latter, or perhaps both.

"Anyway, I'll go back to where this all started, I don't know how long I've been gone for but... that night, after our encounter with Reid, while all of you guys were asleep, me and Julius kinda headed back for a rematch with Reid and somehow managed to cheese our way through with a win." Upon hearing this, the other three were surprised, and a little disappointed, understandable, as their lack of communication is what has lead to this situation.

"We got some info regarding how to clear the trials, but we aren't exactly allowed to tell it to you since he's only allowed to give it to us. And there would be dire consequences if we were to tell you..."

"I'm assuming you've figured out an answer to what was told to us that night, and tried to find out for yourself?" Julius replied.

"Yeah... well actually, kind of. I thought that if I looked into Reid's book, the key to the trial would show up somewhere along his string of memories, but there was a fatal flaw in his Book of the Dead… that is, it's completely empty, hollow as to say, I didn't experience any of his memories" A useful piece of information that got everyone thinking, especially Anastasia.

"Seems like yer sayin' that his very existence was ripped out from his Book of the Dead, am I right?"

And correct she was Subaru indicated with a simple nod, the deduction was that whoever had made the trial, that most likely being Flugel, had taken his memories from his Book of the Dead, to make some sort of reconstruction of Reid to act as the guardian of the second trial, or that is what he think is happening.

"Then, simple answer would be ta just shove em back in his book?"  
"I'm hoping it's that simple, all that's left is to actually try it and see if it works…"

In the end, the key to beating Reid is to use his Book of the Dead, to put him to rest so to say. "Wait, Subaru, if his book was empty and you didn't see his memories…" Emilia half-pointed out the new question that had risen up from the new information, and Subaru kept on going, "Since his memories weren't there, I kinda… uh… went straight through the book you can say?"

"That makes no sense, I suppose, explain it properly, in fact"

"Ah, it's really not that easy to explain. You see, imagine all the Books of the Dead are connected to one hypothetical central area, since Reid's book was empty, I sorta just went to the central area instead of going through his memories, that's the best explanation I can give… oh wait, I've been told that 'that' place was called the 'Od Lagna's Cradle', a place where souls get cleansed..."

It didn't seem to ring a bell for anyone, in fact, they all became even more confused at what he said, "You're saying that you went to some imaginary place while you were unconscious then?" Emilia tried to fathom his explanation, "Imaginary… is saying a bit much, perhaps if I say it was something similar to Echidna's dreamscape"

"Oh, so it was like that" Emilia replied, quickly understanding.  
"Indeed, that is more understandable, I suppose"

The other two, Anastasia and Julius, still didn't seem to get it, but decided such trivial details wouldn't really matter, where he went isn't important, it's how or why he went, and also, "You said you were told the name of the place by someone? Then that means…" "I'll be extremely frank with you so try not to freak out or anything, but the person residing in there, was Louise Arneb, Sin Archbishop of Gluttony, and she calls herself Rui"

Surprised expressions surrounded him as he revealed the shocking information, Beatrice immediately asked, "Did they do anything to you, I suppose?!" And Subaru calmly replies, shaking his head in the process, "She did try to take away the rest of my memories, but the 'Od Lagna's Cradle' just sent them right back to me, I also received my previous memories back because of that"

She was relieved at that fact, they all were, "But wasn't Louise a man last time we saw him, Subaru?" Emilia asked, and he was indeed a man the last time they saw him, Subaru, wasting no second in clearing out the misunderstanding, "What we saw back at Pristella, wasn't her real body… no, I think it'd be best to say that the man we saw that day, was her transforming into a person she has eaten, she herself can't get out of the Od Lagna's cradle, she's trapped there you can say, why she's trapped, is probably because she doesn't have a real body"

"In other words, your saying she's like a figment of someone's imagination?" Julius asked.

"Well, basically… she's the culmination of all the memories the other two gluttonies, Ley Batenkaitos, and Roy Alphard, had eaten, so you can say she's not a real person, but a bunch of people mushed up together…"

"The thought of mushing people up is sickening, I suppose, word it differently next time"

With all the major surprises gone, they continued on with the actual happenings during Subaru's time in Od Lagna's cradle, explaining about how Rui was wanting to find a way out, their clashing ideals, and many more, especially about his plans on bringing her out, "Ya really think it's a good idea to bring her out, Natsuki-kun? Pretty sure nothin goods gonna come outta doin that"

"Well, with Shaula in the state she is in, I doubt we'd be able to find a proper fix to the Gluttony problem, I've discussed with Rui a way to bring them all back, but she simply told me that I have to 'eat' the other two Gluttonies in order to gain the memories of the people they have eaten, how to return them, and whatnot, I've still yet to figure out…"

"Wait a minute, by eat…"

"In short, she's granted me her witch genes, the witch genes of Gluttony, and now, I can use her... no, their authority, the authority of Gluttony…" Alas, the surprises weren't quite dealt with yet, Subaru couldn't find a good enough time during their whole discussion to tell them, so he let it slip his mouth, "It's how I stopped Shaula, I simply ate her memories…"

Understanding nods, it seems they were holding back their surprised expressions for a better time, now is not the time to lose their cool, "So, you were able to see her memories, correct?" Julius asked him out of curiosity, but perhaps also to question whether he found anything useful within her memories, "Yeah, I saw how most of how her life played off, though it seemed rather… summarized. In short, I think she's something like Beako, an artificial spirit by Flugel"

Thoughtful gazes wandered around him as they processed this information, "Nothing of importance you saw, I suppose?" "None that I can think of, I do recall, however, meeting the dragon, seeing the real sage 'Flugel', and a few other people, but nothing really important…" quite fruitless it was, but onwards they had to go.

"Well, with everything said and done… a rest period is what we need, so I guess it'd be best to just stay still for a second now…"

They all agreed, it has been a tiresome and eventful day, many things happened, and all in the span of a few hours, no, perhpas a few minutes even, most of them are exhausted, some of them still need their wounds tended to, rest is definitely what they need.

.

As night time befalls the tower, everyone had gone to the green room, it's notable healing effect had made resting a rather easy job, though, mental fatigue wouldn't be cured that easily, though while everyone was resting, there was one who wasn't there resting, Subaru, "..." Noticing the absence of her partner, Beatrice stood up and scuttled away. She opened a few doors, crossing through a few rooms, until she saw a balcony, one that wasn't there before, Subaru staring off into the distance.

"Subaru…"  
"..."

She called out to him, though he didn't reply, just a deadpan stare into the distance, worrying her quite a bit, "Subaru…" Calling out his name once more, the spirit walked closer, fearing something else might have happened to him, "Subaru!" Finally reaching him she tugged on his sleeve, a reaction coming across his face, "Beako? Sorry, I dazed off there, you need something"

With a face of relief, she sighed, looking back at him with a meaningful stare, "What exactly were you planning to do out here, I suppose?" It is a rather deep fall, it's more than enough to take the life of any mere mortal who was dumb enough to make the jump, "Nothing at all… I was just a little sick of having emotions shoved into me you know?"

With the intensity of Satella's feelings radiating through to him, and with his newly acquired memories from Shaula, emotions ran rampant through his head, feelings of hatred, loss, longing, and fear, all were imminent, "Four-hundred-years ago wasn't a really good time wasn't it?" he randomly spouted, staring back into the vastness of the desert.

"It truly isn't, I suppose…"

She joined him, in his staring, a little lackluster she thought it was, though to his eyes, who are also now Shaula's, perhaps they could have been seeing something different, perhaps a figment of the past, lurking around, "Subaru... you're not going to try and save her?" She asked with an almost whispery voice, as if she's struggling on whether she should ask it or not, though, she ended up doing it anyway.

"..."  
"..."

He thought about it for a while, no, he's already thought about it, and Emilia had helped him reach the conclusion he has made right now, "It would be the best course of action to save her, us all getting out of here alive, that's most definitely what I want… but, my power, Return by Death, the way it works, it's fundamental mechanics... no one knows how it actually works, not even Ella, she's not the one pulling me back in time after all. So whatever happens when I leave behind a loop where I'm no longer part in, who knows what happens to that…"

"..."

"If I leave now, to find a potentially better future only I'll be able to experience, while leaving you guys here to face the burden of mistakes I leave behind, that's a little selfish and irresponsible, Meili's death, the destruction of the library, taking Shaula's precious memories… me returning might fix it for the next loop, but the ones left here, in a way it just isn't fair, you know?"

"I understand, I suppose…"

After a few more minutes of staring, they return back, both of them having bored themselves in looking through the endless sea of sand. Opening up the door, he sees that most if not everyone was asleep, the vines in the room made for really good cushioning it seems.

And so they took a spot in the corner near Patrasche, lying against the wall while they rested their eyes, Subaru felt something wrapped around his arm, "Beako?" "It's to make sure you don't wander off on your own again, I suppose, you're always causing us trouble, hmph" Letting out a huff, the spirit shows no signs of letting go of Subaru's poor hand, he couldn't complain, what she said is completley true, besides it doesn't seem like he minded much, but then he felt something on his other side, "W-What, Patrasche, you too?! You were awake?"

The ground dragon who has been left behind from all the action had also been extremely worried about her master's safety, it's only reasonable that she'd also have a similar train of thought to Beatrice, "You guys… haah, no matter, I'm tired anyway, you two grabbing onto me won't stop me from sleeping…" And so soundly they fell asleep, onto the night.

And they all woke up the next morning… with nothing particularly noteworthy happening.

* * *

A/N

A short chapter, felt like if I continued it on, it'd feel stretched unless I reach a part that'd make the chapter near 9k words long, not wanting that, I stopped here. Next Friday, I'm telling you, 80- no 70% chance I'll update for the next chapter… no, maybe 67%, something around that, anyway, we're finally going to progress on the actual story now, so that's exciting…

I also proofed this chapter properly... also, it's a little weird. I kinda don't wanna proof my chapter, not because i'm lazy and all, but cause I really like the look of the site when I'm using stylish (web browser addon that changes how websites designs look) it makes reading just so much better, smoother overall look, and it has a font that looks kinda like EB Garamond, one of my fav fonts to use in google doc/microsoft word, so I end up wanting to read my next chapters on sight before proofing them, since, you know, I take a while to write them down, so I kinda read them like a you guys when they're out, but once I do that and I note all the mistakes, I gotta go back into the editor, and read through the whole thing again, which, not gonna lie, gets rather dull and boring the second time. so I tend to just... not do it, morale of the story is, if i proof it before updating the story, i sacrifice my own reading of the story with a nice format, but all you guys get a clean grammar error free chapter... the greater good must be done, selfishness shan't be tolerated!

Also, it was my B-Day 5 days ago, it was rather uneventful, but such a thing is great for me, just a simple happy b-day and went on with the day, truly, the chill lifestyle... I'm now considered an adult by the criminal code law of my country, guess I can get an Id, a drivers licensce, vote for elections, but also, go to jail legally now! Yay!

EOC - Conversation

[Ella]: Ahem, I'm still waiting on that screen time Author-san  
[Review]: I know, I know, I've planned out something for that  
[Ella]: Great! I get more time to flaunt my cheeky attitude  
[Review]: Just need to discuss it over with Red...  
[Ella]: Guh, it's not even confirmed yet? This is a Scam!  
[Review]: What are you, an angry customer?  
[Ella]: Yes and no! I'm angry, but I'm not a customer!  
[Ella]: Wait, since I'm asking you for screen time, technically I am!  
[Review]: Why did this place turn into a complaints department?


	41. Chapter 38: The Truth Unfolds

**Warlock of Sin. Arc 3: Linking the Past and The Present**

 **Chapter 38: The truth unfolds**

"Ella, you here?"

He spoke out to the never-ending darkness deep within his mind, calling out to the girl that had been absent this whole time, "So something's still wrong, I guess…" He's tried to talk to her last night but it seems as the days go by, his connection with her seems to keep growing more dull, with every passing second, they grow more distant, the crystal barely has any more light left.

"..."

It's extremely worrisome. Though she may have been a clingy, annoying, and cumbersome witch, she's someone who Subaru regards as a close friend, seeing her in this state, or more specifically, not being able to see her in this state has brought anxiety deep within Subaru's heart.

The place she had been trapped in, no one but he knows of it, so no one but he himself can understand the pain and suffering she has gone through, and just like that no one but he can be beside her to help her, having escaped that place with her, it has become his responsibility to look out for her as she tries to get herself back into shape.

"But look at what I'm doing right now… in the end, I really am just a weak and useless person…"

It was his fault for not making sure she was okay with this, it was his fault for not speaking with her at all times, it's all his fault for being ignorant and neglectful. "In the end, it's always the same huh..."

'Subaru...'

The darkness urges him on to sulk more and more, asking him to spiral into the never-ending void he's had since the beginning, whether in this world or the previous, he's always been like this.

'Subaru...'

"Hmmm... yeah, Emilia-tan?"

Opening up his eyes, he looks over to his side, greeted by a worried face lined with a purple haze, "Did you get anything from her?" She asked, hoping for the best, but Subaru just shook his head, "She's still not replying, seems whatever Pandora did to me must have done something to her as well..." Though it could just be dismissed by her coming closer and closer to the Witch of Envy, Subaru just strangely felt like Pandora is most definitely the cause of this.

"So, any luck with waking up Shaula?"

"Nh, no luck yet, she's not getting up no matter what we do"

Ever since Subaru has 'eaten' her memories she's been in a comatose state like many other gluttony victims, though, she's only had her memories stolen from her. With her name still intact, she should just be experiencing extreme amnesia, nothing more, nothing less.

"Maybe I should've done something else to calm her down"

"It's okay Subaru, besides, according to what you said, we can return her memories back right? So this is only temporary" What Emilia said is true, but it only holds true if they really are able to return everyone's memories and names. Rui could have just been lying to Subaru, it could've just been a ruse to get herself out, that's a thought that had crossed Subaru's mind.

"Yeah, we'll definitely get their memories and names back..."

Even with that possibility looming on his mind, he trusts her, or perhaps he has entrusted her to another person, perhaps that person can make sure she keeps her end of the deal, but then that's all there is to it, he can only hope from here.

"Oh Beako, hows her condition looking?"

As the two halted their conversation, Beatrice enters into the scene, having been tasked with checking on Shaula's state, she's the one making sure whether her situation was dire or not, "It's not as if she's dead, but to say she's in a coma would also be stretching it, I suppose. She still reacts to touch and is sensitive to pain, but other than that, she's more or less unreactive..."

Perhaps she's like a computer, having all of its software ripped off it can do almost nothing but return an error message, or at least that's what Subaru has thought about up till now. Perhaps by taking her memories, he's taken the vital instructions that had been ingrained in her system by Flugel, then if that's the reason, returning her memories will most definitely wake her back up.

"Well, nothing left to do but continue on with the trials then... Beatrice, tell Julius and Anatasia-san that we'll be going over to see if we can finish the trials with this" Saying that, he waves over to her a book, Reid's Book of the Dead, and she nods, "But if he tries anything, you better run back, I suppose" With a curt nod, Subaru dispelled her worries and promises to head back if things turn south.

The three bid farewell, for only a short amount of time. Beatrice turned back and left to return back to the green room, while Subaru and Emilia continue to head up the stairs, towards the metallic door that separates them and the trial room.

"Shall we go then?"

"Yup, let's go, Subaru"

And without hesitation, they both shoved the door wide open, revealing the ever so white trial room.

.

"Yoho, shrimp boi"

The madman in red cackled as the two of them entered, though he only seemed to address Subaru, not in the least bit interested in Emilia. "I don't know why but seeing your face doesn't make me the least bit happy at all..." Starting it off with such a light-hearted tone, it seems Subaru just wants to get this all over with, any further stress would be the end of him.

"Awww, am I not a good enough lookin' princess for ya, Prince?"  
"Please don't call yourself a princess, your making fun of princesses all over the world"  
"Well they oughta be thankful ta me for lower the standards"

It seems, Reid also has a way with jokes, he has a good sense of humor it seems, "Reid, regarding what you said last night... or 'that' night, since I'm not sure how long I've been gone for, the answer to your riddle, would be your memories, Emilia, could you close your ears for a second please?" Suddenly shifting his attention to Emilia like that startled her a bit.

"Oh, yes of course"

She turned away, and covered up her ears while squatting down, humming something loudly so she wouldn't be able to hear anything from their conversation, "Say... ye sure that's gonna be enough? Even a single letter she hears and the deals off ya know?" "It's okay, if there's anything Emilia is besides a kind-hearted cute beauty, it's that she's dense, so even if she manages to hear a word, she wouldn't be able to make out a single thing we're talking about."

"That's some way to put yer faith inta words ain't it"

Clearing his throat out for attention, Subaru shows to Reid his book of the dead, "Kh, Well even if ya didn't find out th' answer, just showin that means ya pretty much know how ta get rid of me" Ushering a sigh a defeat, Reid raises up his hands at a loss, "Big heads like yours just tick me off ya know? So let's get this over with already"

"Oh not quite yet, I've still got something I wanna ask you..."

Raising a brow, Reid gives him a questioning look, "See here shrimp, I ain't gonna give ya any hints on the next trials if tha's what yer after" And Subaru shakes his head in denial, "No, I want to ask you about a certain person... Pandora"

"..."

Upon hearing that name, his face frowns and he clicks his tongue, "Not even the 'Oh so great sage' coulda figured her out, ya think someone like me gives two shits bout it?" Of course not, is what ran through his head, with a disappointed face Subaru sighs, "Figures... Emilia, keep those ears closed, we're not done yet..."

Flinching as she heard Subaru's voice, Emilia started to quicken her humming that had grown silent after a few minutes, "Okay last thing, you know about Satella right?" His eyes perked up upon hearing this, "Haha, ya mean tha' poor little dimwit, ghehe, feel a little bad for her, getting caught up in somethin like that" Subaru took in what he heard and breathed out. "What about her?"

"You know right? That Satella is right here, in this very crystal..."

He pulls out from inside his overcloak, the purple crystalline gem wrapped by a string around his neck, no shimmering, no glowing, "Heh? What makes ya think that?" Narrowing his eyes with a cheeky grin, Reid stares down Subaru from top to bottom, "Hmm, when Konrad came to get me, I saw that he's Returned by Death from the look of his eyes, it looked just like mine, so I've deduced that he's died at least once, and no one is exactly hostile here, besides you if we take into account us breaking the deal, you'd have been the one to kill him, so you'd be able to tell me and him-"

"What...? I'm not followin ya at all!?"

Realising that all he's saying right now would be utter blasphemy to anyone but him, he facepalms himself, "Nevermind, the thing is, I have a feeling that you know that there's been someone inside this necklace, you also know that while we were fighting that it wasn't me or Julius fighting of our own free will, that there was someone else residing inside of us..."

"..."

"Well?"

"Ugh..." He scratches his head in annoyance, "Not sayin I didn't notice it, but 's not like I can tell exactly what goin on in there ya know? Besides, what's that gotta do with everything" After what seemed like a painstaking confession, Subaru continued, "I've not been able to talk to her for a long while now, do you have any idea why?"

"Beats me, coulda just been the witch doing her witchy stuff"

"...So you don't know either huh... ok, guess I'm done with everything..."

Having said that, Subaru tossed the book of the dead towards Reid and he skims over the cover, nodding after he was done, "Yep, this the one alright, yall pass, get lost now..." Again, just like the previous trials, there was nothing that signified that they've passed, besides Reid himself telling them, rather anticlimactic he thought.

"Emilia, you can stop now, we're done"  
"Huh? Already, was there nothing else we needed to do?"

"Nope, he just wanted the book"

Who knew it would've been this easy in the end, "Hey shrimp!" As the two started to leave, the man's voice called out to him once more. He turned back, and glanced towards him, "If ya want answers, perhaps the top floor will help ya out" And with that, the man faded into dust, not a trace of him left, it seems Reid has finally been put to rest.

"All you guys of the past and your vagueness... its really pissing me off here"

* * *

"Subaru, you've returned"

Heading back down to the green room, Subaru and Emilia were greeted by Julius, who had stayed by the door, a little worried about what would unfold from the floor above, "Yep, and we've finished the trials, a-okay" Shooting them all a thumbs up, Subaru puts on a smile. Seeing that Emilia too is smiling, it seems everything went smoothly and with no problems.

"Now, according to the info we gained from the first trials, I reckon we'd have to search for the door to the second library somewhere round here right?"

Anastasia's statement was heard loud and clear, and everyone agreed to it, "Following the trend, the door to the third trial should open up somewhere in this room after we find the next library… alright, guess it's time to search around then"

And search around they did, looking by every nook and cranny until they've found what they were looking for, a door that hasn't been there before. "Hmm, this definitely wasn't here before, wasn't it?" With the last place searched being the destroyed Library of the Dead, they had a feeling it would be here. "Well… it's really hard not to notice it right?" Emilia told them all.

Among all the debris and destruction, one single door stood untouched, even a baby would be able to tell that this door was a new addition to the room, seems they've found the next part to the tower, and they proceeded, "Alright, on we go…" Subaru was first, he opened up the wooden door, and progressed through, expecting a spiraling staircase like many of the stairways he's seen in the tower, he was a bit surprised that this one went straight up, just a small trivial detail he noticed.

"..."

One by one they climbed up the stairs, which definitely felt like it took longer to climb than the stairway to Reid's trial room, this was the next floor after all, but at the same time, they've started climbing up from the Library of the Dead, which is higher than the green room, so relatively speaking, it being this long shouldn't really be the case.

"Then again, Reid's room was really big…"

Subaru muttered to himself, though, maybe everyone was thinking the same thing, it did feel a tad bit longer than it should've taken to reach the top. "So this is the next library huh…" Opening another door that revealed to everyone a mass expansion to the small library that they had once known, "You gotta be kidding me right?" Subaru feels defeated.

If the previous Library of the Dead were to be a house, then this next library they were looking at would be akin to a 5-star holiday villa. Not one, not two, but three whole layers of bookshelves, all packed to the brim with books of different sizes and colors, the sight even made Beatrice, who's grown accustomed to such views, shiver.

"Betty doesn't like this one bit, I suppose…"

Being frightened by such a fearsome monument, Beatrice slides behind Subaru grabbing on his clothes and urging him "S-Subaru, let's go back, I suppose, we have no business being here!" Though he shared the same thoughts as her, he couldn't possibly back down now, "Trust me Beako, I really don't wanna be here too… but turning back now when we've gone this far is a waste…"

And with fearful faces, they entered this behemoth of a library.

.

"Hmm… this is all rather well laid out isn't it" Subaru exclaimed...

Three staircases were presented to them, one went to the left, though it was more like steps instead of stairs, barely went above ground. This was the first layer, filled to the utmost with bookshelves, the most out of the three. The next staircase spirals to the right, it was dimly lit compared to the others and had noticeably fewer books, in fact, it's extremely sparse there, it looks more like a normal library than anything, that was the second layer.

And lastly, going straight forward is the last set of stairs, with railings on the sides to prevent anyone from falling, it went higher than the other two so it could be considered the third layer of this library, at the top, a desk stood, a simple cushioned chair behind, and a few other things, namely cupboards, drawers, and more bookshelves. Seems like that could've been the living quarters for the sage.

"I guess we'll search them all one by one…"

So they did.

The first left-most layer obviously came first, as it was the easiest to get too, they all grabbed a book from different sections of the library and started reading, "Theorem on the distribution of Divine Protections" Emilia read out, it seems to have been a book filled with someone's hypotheses for how Divine Protections were granted and how they worked.

"Inner Workings of the flow of mana," Julius said to himself, perhaps a book about the fundamentals about magic. How it works, how it's created, how it's used, it was quite extensive with many sketches and visual representations of ideas that were otherwise abstract. Whoever made this must have been talented in not only intelligence but creativity.

Anastasia read another one, "Principles of Od" Something stated out so blatantly could only be seen as such, a book outlining the relationship between the Od and the body, the origin of the gate, the interaction between the soul of a person with the environment around it, a deep subject which requires much experimentation.

Next was Beatrice, "Spirit training 101… what is this, I suppose…" Something named so unprofessionally, it made Beatrice's eyes twitch in disappointment. Though the name did its job well, it was still a terrible name. A book about how to create a contract with spirits, perhaps a beginners book. "Still, calling it training is rather disgusting, Geh…"

And finally, Subaru, "New horizons and happenings, Another… world!" The title shocked him, never would he think he'd find something like this. A philosophical book about the idea that there existed another world separate to theirs, it gave Subaru a flashback to where he talked to Priscilla back in the capital with Al.

'Things such as another world, we don't understand that concept that you and Al propose'

To begin with, the fundamental meaning of 'world' over here has massively different implications than it does in Subaru's own. Where 'world' could encompass the earth, the universe, or the dimension with which everyone experiences their day to day life in, 'world' over here is a very narrowly explained term, simply the area entrapped by the great endless waterfall.

'The best alternative to 'another world' would be beyond the waterfall'

Is what she said, though it isn't exactly wrong, it wasn't entirely true either. Saying that they come from beyond the waterfall would mean that everything is within a single universe, in other words, the people of this world's view on how everything around them works, is primitive. It's like thinking a mountain is the border to the world.

"To think that there would be someone… who'd think like this…"

The origins of Subaru's coming to this world, perhaps it wasn't some sort of accident by Satella, no, perhaps it was something orchestrated by someone else that is capable of thinking like this. Though Satella was responsible for Return by Death, she has openly admitted that she **wasn't** the reason for Subaru being pulled into this world. There was that one time she told her parents that, but that was only a ruse to keep things from getting confusing.

'To be fair Subaru… even I don't know why you were pulled over…'  
'What? Wasn't it like the Witch of Envy who dragged me over?!'

'No… even though she's got all the witch genes, she's incompatible, the only reason you're able to use spacial rend and travel back here is because you yourself have the ability to control them, as far as she goes, she's only able to use the authority of Envy…'

'But then, what about Betelgeuese's unseen hand? Why could she use those'

'Those were merely her manifestation of 'Envy', hands that want everything, Betelgeuse just blindly copied her out of his 'Sloth', resulting in an eerily similar ability… but even then, a copy is just a copy, that's why he could only use half…'

Was how the conversation went back then, it's all getting pieced together, the reason for why Subaru was transported to this world, the reason behind this is the person who made this book, the author should have the answer!

"But even then… he's probably long gone by now, you can only live for so long, I guess…"

Having brainstormed the idea enough, Subaru decides to bring it up for later, though he brings the book with him, when he finds the time to read it, he'll definitely do so.

.

And so they all regrouped back and shared the results of their findings, all of which lead to them saying that this library was indeed filled with important research that's been collected over many years, for it to have been hidden in here for so long has been a waste to the people of this world.

"Even the greatest minds of this era have been struggling with many of the topics presented in these books, surely we can't let it go to waste" Julius informed them all, but despite the merits of the countless amount of knowledge they can gain from here, many problems arise when it comes to how it could be done.

"First off, distribution would be a problem, ya know? Then there's the problem of ownership, and we don't even know how Shaula would react when she wakes up to all the books missin', even then, it's not like we can bring people over here either..."

With Anastasia laying down the cold-hard facts, the possibility of perhaps improving the world with this knowledge has faded from their hands, so much to gain yet no way to contain it, it's rather saddening knowing that they're losing a lot of precious studies from the ages. "But that's not what we can here for in the first place, let's keep going with our main goal," Subaru told them all.

The next layer of the library was to the right-most edge of the room, a spiraling staircase which brought them to the darker side of the whole area, less windows, less magic-powered lamps, less of everything. But despite the lack of that, it felt like the things that were present were arranged in some sort of pattern, though none of them could actually make out what it was, not even Subaru, this wasn't something reminiscent of his world.

With the arrangements of all the bookshelves and stools, they were bound to find this one singular book in the center of it all. Enclosed with a casing of black, with extruded patterns of withered flowers on it's cover, it sat there menacingly on a pedestal, whatever this book was, it was definitely special.

"..."

The group gazed on it, approaching it carefully, though Shaula did say in the beginning that things weren't booby-trapped, none of them really trusted her in that, so they practiced caution. Julius touched the book and nothing happened, they looked around, expecting something to change, perhaps maybe even someone showing up, but nothing of the sort did.

He then took the book out of its place and held it firmly in his hands, still nothing happened. Going by how the Books of the Dead work, there may be some drastic implications when reading this book, so having someone watch him was of the utmost importance, "I'll start reading it then…" He said, while slowly opening the cover.

"..."

His pupils shrunk and his hands grew weak, yet he held onto the book firmly and kept his eyes on the text, but what he saw was gibberish, yet again, gibberish that made no sense, or so he thought. His mind spiraled into a darkness that was untold of, he saw things he didn't want to see, gruesome, vile, and nauseating. It made his head churn, it made his body sick, though none of it showed since he was entranced by the text.

"Julius?"

Subaru shook him, checking to see if he was still conscious, "No reply…" It seems they were right, it's the same as it was with the Book of the Dead, he's been sucked in, and is experiencing the contents of the book first-hand, Watching as he silently stared onto the book, made everyone rather uncomfortable, it was eerie in a way, like staring at yourself in the mirror for a long time.

Though his face was calm, what he saw, what he thought, what he heard, what he felt, it was not calming in the least, it was horrifying, terrifying, it was like watching hell with your own two eyes, and being unable to do anything to stop it.

"Ghhh!"

A strong stench had evolved from Julius's very being, pungent and unpleasant, it smelled like something rotten, perhaps meat? But Subaru smelt something else from him, something even more sinister than that, "This is… Miasma! Julius stop reading!" Snatching the book from his firm grip, Subaru tried to snap Julius out of his trance, and it seemed to have worked.

"..."

He blinked twice, and gazed down at his two hands…

"..."

And then it struck him.

"Khh…"

A strong sensation in his stomach tormented him as something warm came up his throat.

"Gh…"

He kept his mouth shut as he swallowed it all back down, preventing any mess from spilling out of his mouth, "Haaah… haah…" With heavy breathes, he grabs onto his pounding chest, it was loud everyone around him could hear it, feel it even. His eyes quivered and his body shook, what he saw there, was enough to shake him to his core.

"Julius, what's wrong!"

Anastasia asked him worriedly, "What did you see..." He took minutes, many minutes to calm down, everyone had to wait eagerly as he tried to collect his thoughts, making sure that nothing is wrong with him, Beatrice and Emilia checked on him, no injuries whatsoever, if there was any fatigue he had experienced, it's all mental.

"That book… was quite a horrid experience…"

He couldn't describe it properly, it wasn't like he was watching one thing, it was multiple scenes being jammed into his head at the same time, so explaining it would most definitely be difficult, but he managed to get one thing if anything, "From all the mess, I was able to get one thing from it all…" everyone tensed up, waiting for an answer, he takes a breather as he reveals to everyone.

"The book showed me… the birth of a witch…"

* * *

Fires burned the ground.  
Toxins poisoned the air.  
Clouds shrouded the sky.

It was chaos everywhere.

The ground shattered.  
Lightning and Thunder broke free.  
Darkness prevailed.

This was a chaos never seen before.

Blood stained the grass.  
Ashes spread by the winds.  
Embers sparking.

This was the birth of a certain witch.

Beautiful yet vile.  
Sweet yet sinister.  
Kind yet evil.

Pandora was her name.

Screams.  
Wails.  
Cries.

Those were the first things she heard.

Death.  
Anguish.  
Despair.

Those were the first things she saw.

She was the spawn of blood.  
She was the spawn of death.  
She was the spawn of evil.

Knowing all of this she smiled and said, "How nice it is to be alive…"

Everyone around her was massacred.  
Not a single soul left.  
She had no one to greet her.  
Yet she didn't mind.

"..."

This scenery in front of her, the place she was born in, what a nice smell it had.

The smell of rotting corpse.  
The smell of burning flesh.  
The smell of bloody meat.

And the smell of a **witch**.

Here…

Wherever here is…

Was where the first witch was born…

* * *

 **A/N**

Weird thing happened you see, wasn't supposed to have internet connection for the whole week since last Thursday, so I decided "Hey, let me edit out this whole chapter" So I did, removed everything and was half-way through revising it, then suddenly, poof, got internet again because my family really can't stand live without it. And So I freaked out and thought, "Darnit, I deleted the previous draft and I'm already half-way through this shit! Damnit!"

So yeah, had to delay it a few days… I knew something like this would happen…

Planned on writing a wee bit more before uploading the chapter, but this ending was a little too good that I couldn't continue it in this chapter, the cliff-hanger is just a little awkward to not use…

If I feel it, I may make it a 2k chapter and just get it done within a day, that is unless I'm able to plan out the third trials quick enough, then I'll just put them both in the same chapter and finish it next week. Also, I'm expecting like 3-4 more chapters till the end of this arc. Maybe one more interlude in between...

 **N2  
** **Please continue this interesting story.**

It's not over, don't worry.

 **Guest  
** **Wonderful I hope you continue to update.**

I'll be sure to keep it up consistently! I hope...

EOC - Conversation

[Review]: Okaaay, today I've tied up Ella so she wouldn't complain about screen time, so I need a replacement  
[Review]: So everyone say high to the kingdom's greatest knight, Julius!  
[Juli]: A pleasure to be apart of the ending conversation.  
[Review]: Aw, no need to be like that Julius, anyway, sorry for making you swallow that back up, must've sucked.  
[Juli]: A knight must always be ready to take on a challenge, going through that would've been better than shaming my code...  
[Review]: The knights code… must be pretty scary huh...


End file.
